A Texas Wedding
by taylorcochran
Summary: A sequel to my other story 'A Texas Reunion'. Riley Matthews is planning her happily ever after. Will the stress of planning a wedding, a honeymoon, purchasing a new home and starting a family going to be too much for her? Will Rucas make it to their wedding day?
1. Chapter 1-What?

**Thanks everyone so much for the constant motivation to keep writing. I'm slowly writing this story but I am putting this out because i've had so many requests.**

 **This is the sequel to A Texas Reunion.**

 **Chapter 1**

"YOU'RE WHAT?!" Maya exclaimed over the entire family.

"I'm engaged, we're engaged!" Lucas' arm wrapped around her waist and Riley couldn't help but smile. It was silent for what seemed like minutes, but in reality it was only 20 seconds.

"OH MY GOD! RILEY! WE'RE ENGAGED TOGETHER! AT THE SAME TIME!" The entire Matthews clan burst out into cheers, applause, and congratulatory hugs. Everyone gathered around the newly engaged couple but the brunette almost instantly knew who was missing. She gazed around the room and saw her father slip outside. The principal untangled her best friend's arms off of her neck and gently let go of Lucas' hands, letting him fend for himself.

"Daddy?" She slid the back door closed and sat down beside her father on the bench.

"Congratulations honey." His arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" The brunette gently placed her head on his shoulder.

"I'm okay, I knew this was going to happen. But, it's still hard to see my little girl engaged and getting married."

"I'm 27 dad."

"28 now and you'll understand one day. When you become a parent, it shifts your perspective on, everything."

"You're not happy for me?"

"Oh, of course I am. I just, you aren't going to call me anymore when you need something fixed or done. I am so proud of you for finding someone like Lucas, just reminds me that you won't need me anymore." The back door slid open again and her mother walked out.

"Of course I am. I will always need you." Topanga draped her arm over Cory's and smiled. "I will always need you." Riley reiterated.

"Congratulations sweetheart."

"Thanks mom. I'm so excited, I can't wait to start planning."

"Have you set a date?" The brunette's forehead creased and started laughing.

"Nope. But, I will let you know." The door slid open again and her fiancee walked out. Riley smiled and he pulled up a chair to sit in front of her. "Hey babe, when do you wanna marry me?"

"Geez, that's a toughy." His future in-laws laughed. The green eyed man slowly smiled and held her hand. "How soon can you plan a wedding?"

"I'm being serious!"

"I am too." The brown eyed girl stared into his, trying to find sarcasm. "I didn't ask you to marry me so we can wait a year, or more to get married." Mrs. Matthews awed and held hands with her husband.

"Okay mister, we'll talk about this when we leave." Riley felt some fingers playing with her hair.

"Sweetie, did you do something different?" Her daughter glared and let out a light chuckle.

"Well, my hair grew out on the left side. I chopped off like 10 inches. That could probably be what's different." Her mother laughed.

"Come on sweetheart," Lucas held out his hand, "Maya wanted me to come get you." His fiancee took his hand happily and walked back inside. Topanga gazed upon her husband and he sighed.

"There she goes."

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"Have you set a date?" Maya sipped on wine.

"No, not really." The officer's arm was draped over her shoulder. "This one doesn't want to wait long, but I was thinking maybe the cruise could be our honeymoon." He was about to take a drink when he stopped.

"You're kidding?"

"No, the cruise is already ridiculously expensive. Add in the wedding-"

"And a new house." Lucas proposed. The brunette flipped around, knocking his arm off.

"WHAT?"

"You didn't honestly think that we were going to start our marriage, and a family in the same house that Missy was in did you? That's bad karma." The blonde slowly walked backwards, leaving them alone.

"Are you high?" He laughed.

"No, i'm not, I feel like that makes perfect sense." The green eyed man interlocked his fingers behind her back.

"Lucas, we don't have the money for that. We both work for the government." Her fiancee smirked and focused on the ceiling.

"So, there may be something I haven't told you." She cocked her head to the side. "Let's take a walk." They meandered outside in the crisp December air.

"So, this is awfully cryptic. What's going on?" Lucas chuckled. "What haven't you told me?"

"Well, you know my parents retired and sold their roofing business." She nodded, hoping he'd get to the point faster. "I didn't tell you that the business was extremely successful and still is. When my dad sold the company for a very larg amount he gave me 75% of the profit." Riley stopped walking and stomped her foot.

"WHAT?" Lucas divulged a smile at her reaction and continued speaking.

"My mom made a lot as an engineer and they were already pretty set, they wanted to make sure there son was taken care of. I'm not going to tell you how much is in my savings, in a CD or anything like that. But, you don't have to worry about money, it's enough to give you everything you want and more." Her hands slapped her face to cover her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't tell people."

"I'm not people, i'm a Riley." She punched his arm. "Why don't you tell people?" Lucas glanced at her, the brunette's nose was slightly red from the cold air and she tried to duck down into her scarf to cover her face.

"Because, I didn't want my money to be the reason you stuck around." The principals jaw dropped. "I knew it wouldn't be, I know you love me but I wasn't going to tell anyone until well I got engaged. Besides, modesty is underrated, why tell people if we have money? Just makes us targets. So congratulations, we aren't poor government workers, we're rich government workers." Riley couldn't help but laugh.

"Either way, we don't need a new house or another extravagant trip." They interlocked hands again and made another lap around the house.

"Would you rather have a new home, or a honeymoon that isn't a cruise." Riley's shoulders dropped.

"Do I not get an opinion."

"It's called a compromise sweetheart. Preferably i'd rather have a new place, but it's up to you." She didn't answer, her eyes were stuck on the ground, she hated that he felt obligated to do this. "Look, I want you to have the wedding of your dreams, that's non negotiable, we are going on the cruise, that's non refundable. So you choose, honeymoon or house?" She bit the inside of her cheek, the dancer came to the realization that he wasn't going to change his mind.

"Can I have a little bit to think on it?"

"Of course, it's a big decision." The pair kissed and sauntered towards the door. "By the way, it probably goes without saying but let's not tell everyone about my financial situation."

"Situation? I was thinking more like blessing." His laugh made her tingle. "You know my parents will be more than happy to pay for the wedding, and i'm a simpleton I don't need a big extravagant wedding."

"Geez, Maya's right you are a cheap skate! Sweetheart, I don't give a crap what you 'need' for our wedding. It's about what you want? Do you want a box of swans to be released as you walk down the aisle? Done." The brunette covered her mouth while she laughed. "Do you want to have a 10 tier cake? Done. The point is," Lucas stopped her and gently caressed her face, "you will get what you 'want' for our wedding day. This is the one and only time you'll be getting married, let's do it right." His wink made her face break out in a smile.

"You're like every girls dream. Am I sleeping?"

"Nope. You're awake. Let me say though that, I don't splurge much." She cocked her head to the side and raised her brows, trying to get him to remember the weekend they shared. "I splurge on you occasionally, I will splurge on our wedding day, I will make sure we have a beautiful house that you turn into a home, or a wonderful honeymoon, whichever you choose, or we can do both. But, the point is whatever you choose remember that it isn't materialistic things that brought us together." He kissed her nose. "After everything is said and done, what's left will just be me, our money will be in an account growing for our retirement and for when our kids go to college. But, you'll always come home to a man who loves you."

"You have a way with words." He was about to lean in for a kiss, when she stopped him. "You remember, that I fell in love with you before I knew you had money. Remember that I am a cheap skate and we don't need extravagant things." Lucas laughed and kissed her lips. "And you sir, will always come home to a woman who loves you." His warm lips hit her cold ones and his big arms wrapped around her tiny waist to pick her up off the ground.

"EWW GROSS! GET A ROOM!" The newly engaged couple pulled apart and the officer raised his brows.

"Can we?" Lucas questioned and Riley slapped his arm while they walked back inside.

"Dinner time y'all." Lucas took off her coat and his and walked into the dining room where Cory made his usual speech before they ate. Everyone locked hands and listened intently.

"So, another year has come and gone and it has been extremely eventful. We are welcoming 2 new members into our family," He glanced at Lucas and Maya who were smiling, "and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we couldn't be more proud or excited for y'all to be apart of it." The family awed and Lucas was nudged by Topanga. "Now, remember the presents that we receive are great but it's the gifts that we can't wrap that really mean something. Kindness, compassion, a helping hand, love, even a smile can change someone's day or even change a life." The green eyed man grinned, love changed his life, dramatically. "Maya, Riley do you remember what I taught you in school? What is the secret of life?" Riley released Lucas' hand and raised hers.

"People change people." Cory smiled.

"People change people." Mr. Matthews looked at Lucas. "Go out and change a life. Merry Christmas everyone!"

"Merry Christmas." Everyone said it all at once and it caused the green eyed man to shiver, they never had speeches like that in his family but, that was probably the teacher coming out in him.

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"Hey Riles, are you still going out to the Hay's house tonight? Like every Christmas Eve?" Lucas looked at his fiancee, confused.

"Yeah, I am. My mom cooked for them this year, since I was away."

"Tell them I said hi, i'm going to see my mom." The blonde hugged Riley. "Bye peaches, have fun. Kiss their kid for me." The brunette smirked and start pulling food out of the fridge.

"Hey babe, once we get home can I take your truck?"

He chuckled. "You wanna explain to me what's going on?" She turned around confused.

"Did I not tell you?"

"Nope, I don't think so." She was struggling carrying 5 trays of food stacked on top of each other.

"Well like 3 years ago, I went with my church to deliver presents for the Christmas Angels that we bought presents for." Lucas grabbed the trays from his love and set them down. "Thank you. Anyways, I had Deanna Hay she was 2 years old and all she wanted was some clothes and on the angel it said she loved Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So I bought her several outfits, shoes and a dvd of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." A slow grin approached his face, she was so sweet. He could tell this was slightly emotional for her. "It was the day before Christmas Eve and we parked in front of this mobile home, not a trailer park home but anyways um, we walked inside and there were several things wrong with the house it needed some repairs but, I looked around and they didn't even have a tree." The brunette looked towards the ground remembering every detail. "This little girl was running around in clothes that were too small whenever it was 30 degrees outside and when she saw the presents in my hand, the excitement on her face, the look of pure joy that she expressed made me come back the next day, on Christmas Eve. With a fake Christmas tree, so they could continue to use it every year, some lights and a few old ornaments of mine. I went to Target and got her a coat and a minnie mouse chair, I got her parents a gift certificate to go on a date, movies and dinner with my number so I could babysit." She wiped a tear that was fixing to fall. "They needed it, you could tell they were just exhausted, keeping their marriage alive was the last thing on their minds, worrying about bills and their daughter. But for Deanna's sake they needed to. They wanted to give her everything and because of their financial struggle they couldn't." The officer didn't move. "Anyways, um I go every year. I bring food and play with Deanna for a few minutes and talk to her parents. I got a phone call from her mom the other day," she chuckled, "Bonnie told me she finally finished school and her husband Nathan got promoted to manager at Wal Mart. I got her an interview for a position as Guidance Counselor at an elementary school. So yeah, that's where i'm going tonight." He set his glass of tea down and pressed his lips against hers, he was so in love with this girl and the story sent him over the top, words just weren't enough. The only reason he stopped kissing was because Josh cleared his throat.

"Sorry about that. I just wanted to say bye." He shook hands with Luke and gave his niece a hug.

"Thank you for, that." She joked. "So can I steal your truck?"

"Nope, because i'm going with you."

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	2. Chapter 2-People Change People

**Chapter 2**

"Here ya' go muscles." Riley stacked the trays of food in his arms and smiled. "Thank you for coming with me."

"Absolutely, i'm excited." He stared at her and smiled, remembering the words 'people change people' that Cory uttered at dinner.

"Got it!" She climbed out of the back seat with a present, beautifully wrapped as usual, and an envelope. "Alright, let's go. It's almost 8. Deanna is out by 9." Lucas laughed and followed her to the front door.

"Riley." A woman Lucas assumed was Bonnie hugged her. "I was wondering if you'd stop by this year."

"Of course I would. I need to see DEANNA!" The brunette crept into her home and after dropping the gifts chased an adorable blue eyed girl around the house. "Oh, Bonnie. This is my fiancee Lucas." The officer smirked at the sound of the word 'fiancee'.

"Nice to meet you, come on in."

"Bonnie, where's Nathan?" She looked towards the ground.

"He picked up an extra shift." The brunette slowly nodded and hugged her again. The mother exhaled and whispered in her ear, "he wanted to get her a few more gifts."

"I understand." The woman continued to talk a little bit more when they heard a squeal behind them. Riley turned around to find Lucas pretending to be a dinosaur chasing Deanna around the coffee table.

"I'M GONNA GET YOU! RAWR!"

"NO! RILEY! MOMMY! HELP!" Deanna clutched to her mom's leg and laughed. "You can't get me."

"It's true, I can't. Mommy's are a dinosaurs weakness." He stood up and wrapped his arm around Riley's shoulder. The principal smiled, she had never found him more attractive than just then, that was probably the cutest thing he's ever done.

"So, how did y'all meet?"

Lucas cleared his throat. "We went to high school together. I was just too dumb to not date her then." She blushed but covered it with an eye roll.

"I wasn't the most appealing in high school and we were re-introduced at the reunion. Ever since then we've been pretty much inseperable."

"Well congratulations Riley. I'm very happy for you two. You're a lucky man this woman changed our lives." Bonnie took a deep breath and looked away. "By the way, thank you for the interview. I should hear back once y'all go back to school."

"I put in a good recommendation. Fingers crossed."

They all 3 talked and laughed, occasionally would play with Deanna. "Alright sweet girl, time for bed."

"No."

Riley smiled and took a deep breath before she replied. "But, if you don't go to bed then how would Santa come?" Her eyes widened and she took off down the hall. Bonnie mouthed the word thank you. "We're going to head out, I was hoping to catch Nathan, but y'alls gift is under the tree with Deanna's." Bonnie stood up and hugged them goodbye, Lucas didn't know how but he fell in love with her even more.

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Riley was in the bathroom putting on lotion and brushing her hair, Lucas laid in bed and with his jade eyes stared at her. "How can I help you Mr. Friar?"

"Thank you baby." She flipped off the bathroom light and walked to his bed.

"For what?"

"This is the first Christmas of my life that I felt like I made a difference." The brunette chuckled.

"But, you are a police officer."

"That's my job, yeah. But, I never willingly went to soup kitchens, and did the angels off the angel tree, or cooked dinner and brought presents over to a family that needed it. I loved it."

"I'm so glad babe." She laid on his chest and held his hand. "I thought I was overwhelming you at first, but i'm fortunate enough to not have to worry about a roof over my head, or money. So I like to spread the joy."

"You didn't overwhelm me at all! You've changed me."

"I didn't mean to." The officer snickered. "I thought you were pretty amazing before."

"No, for the better sweetheart." He held her left hand and played with her ring. "It's still crazy thinking we're getting married." Lucas divulged.

"Yeah it is, but i'm extremely elated." Her grin turned to a smile. "It was adorable seeing you play 'dinosaur' with Deanna." The jade eyed man chuckled and his hand landed on his eyes. "You're gonna be a great dad."

"Thank you sweetheart, you're going to be a wonderful mom." Lucas gently scratched her back.

"It's decided, i'll start looking for venues soon so we can set a date."

"Well, have you decided on a honeymoon or a home? Or both, hint, hint!"

"I don't want to choose." The brown eyed girl pulled the blankets over her forehead.

"Why not baby?"

"If I say a home that's thousands upon thousands of dollars, if I say a honeymoon that's still a lot. If I say both that's really a lot."

"You lost me at the first a lot." Riley knew he was smiling as he pulled the blankets off of her. "I told you not to worry about money. And, we'd sell this house so we could put that money towards a new one."

"I can't worry about money my entire life and then after a few hours stop worrying completely." He laughed. Riley loved moments like this, they made a rule where they wouldn't watch TV when they go to bed, they'd talk instead and they got a lot resolved in these moonlit conversations. "We aren't even married yet and you want me to spend your money like it's not a big deal."

"It isn't a big deal." He heard his fiancee scoff. "I'm serious, if you don't choose then I will."

"Please do. I don't know which one."

"One? I'm choosing both."

"I had a feeling you'd say that." His strong hands raised her chin and they kissed. "I love you so much. I'm very blessed."

"We both are."

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Riley woke up when she heard the knock on the front door. She'd completely forgot about the delivery of Lucas' Christmas present. The brunette hurriedly crept out of bed and ran to the front door. "Hi, i'm so sorry. I completely forgot, there's been a lot going on."

"It's no problem. I'm glad I could help." The gentleman picked up a crate off the front porch and generously dropped it off in the living room. Lucas woke up at the sound of a man's voice and grabbed his gun out of the gun safe.

"He's going to love him. Thank you." The principal pushed him out the door when she heard footsteps from the hallway.

"Who's that?" Riley dropped her head, realizing she wasn't as sneaky as she had hoped. "Not your other boyfriend is it?" She turned around at the sound of his gun cocking.

"Alright, before I tell you," The brown eyed girl dead bolted the door, "you need to put the gun away." The brunette glanced at her fiancee as he was unloading the gun, he looked so sexy. Shirtless, abs, messy bed hair and that smile. Lucas unloaded the magazine, emptied the chamber and set it down on the table. "That guy was delivering your Christmas present." Lucas' vacant expression turned to a smile. "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

"Come here to me." Riley skipped to him with a smile. His pointer finger grazed her chin and she was pulled into his lips. They continued to kiss until there was a small bark from the dining room. "What'd you do?" There was a smirk on her face and the officer sauntered into the dining room. Coal was laying on the floor with his nose in one of the holes of the crate. "Alright boy, back it up." Riley leaned against the wall and watched him open the box. "Oh my God! Hi little guy, what are you doing in there?" The brunette snickered at his puppy voice and saw his hands holding the fluffiest chocolate lab. His eyes were halfway closed, apparently the puppy wasn't ready to wake up yet. She snapped a picture with her phone while Lucas loved all over him, scratching his ears and petting his head. "He's perfect."

"Yeah, full bred, both of his parents are hunting dogs and his paws are a pretty good size, so he should be big." His green eyes locked on hers. "I figured, that we should have a dog that's ours, if something happens to us Coal is coming with me." He chuckled.

"Nothing is going to happen to us. But, I love him thank you." They kissed again.

"You open your presents and i'll cook us breakfast." The puppy started licking his nose. "That one has strong puppy breath. So, you've been warned." Lucas laughed.

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The officer didn't open his presents, he played with the puppy, Coal got extremely jealous and was rubbing all over the jade eyed man. The dancer walked out of the kitchen with 2 plates in her hands. She smiled and leaned up against the door frame. "Did you pick out a name?"

"I thought that was something we'd do together."

"Nope, he's yours. You choose." Riley set the plates down on the coffee table, and began playing with the puppy.

"How about Hoss?"

"Hoss the boss, I like it." She divulged a smile and her fiancee touched her lips again. "Now, open your presents!"

"Presents? Plural?"

"They go hand in hand with Hoss." Her brown eyes shifted to Hoss. "Don't they, don't they pretty boy." Coal crawled into Riley's lap. Lucas opened up 3 seperate presents; a dog bed, leash, and collar, and a 12 gauge shotgun.

"NO WAY!" Riley laughed.

"Way! Did you think I was going to get you a hunting dog and not get you a shotgun? Tsk, tsk." He placed it in his shoulder pocket and aimed. "I figured we could take Hoss to the gun range on a nice day, and Coal of course."

"You're absolutely incredible!" Lucas' phone started to ring and once he realized it was his mom the green eyed man answered.

Hey momma. Merry Christmas.  
Merry Christmas Laura! Merry Christmas Rodney!  
 _Lucas Friar, I never received a phone call. Am I getting a daughter in law?_ Riley's mouth opened and slapped his arm.  
Yes m'am. You're getting a wonderful daughter in law.  
 _YAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!_ Lucas and Riley chuckled. _Oh, i'm so excited! Have y'all set a date? Riley can I please help? I know i'm far away but we can drive up.  
_ Of course you can! Especially when I pick out a dress, I wasn't going to do that without you! I need both of my mom's there.  
Her brown eyes widened when she heard Laura crying. _I'm so happy for y'all! Ugh, alright Laura dry it up!  
_ Did you like your gifts?  
 _That's why we were calling! The note said to call you when we opened them. I'm gonna put you on speaker, ah there we go. Your father is on the line too. Rodney, they're getting married!_ They heard his father clear his throat. _I figured from all that screamin' you did. Congratulations son, you are a lucky man.  
_ Thank you dad, I know I am.  
 _Alright, we're gonna open the presents. Stay on the line._ There was silence for a few minutes, they heard paper rustling and his mother gasp. _Oh my gosh! Riley, I know this was you._ The brunette blushed. _It's gorgeous, oh my goodness gracious! Honey, look at this. It's a blanket and it has an old picture of us on it. That's so, wow! I don't have any words.  
_ I'm so happy you like it. Also, the picture I stole from you is in the box, don't throw it away.  
 _Oh okay!_ Laura started laughing and the jade eyed man grabbed the phone.  
Hey mom, i'm going to give Riley her gift so we'll talk later okay? Merry Christmas.  
 _Merry Christmas y'all!_

"My gift? I thought this past weekend was my gift. You didn't need to get me anything else." His beautiful eyes rolled.

"I splurge on you, remember? So, yes you have a gift to open on Christmas." The officer walked to the bedroom and opened his gun safe, where he keeps everything he's trying to hide. "Here you go. Merry Christmas baby." The brunette furrowed her brows and took the present out of his grasp.

"Is this going to put my gift to shame?"

"No, that's an amazing gift. Best one ever, besides the whole you agreeing to marry me." His smile melted her heart. The new addition to the family was laying in her lap as she slowly opened her gift.

"I'm very impressed at your wrapping skills." He rolled his eyes at the crumpled up paper she pulled off of a white box. "Okay, let's see." She pulled the lid off. "Oh my God! LUCAS!"

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	3. Chapter 3-Gifts

**Chapter 3**

"NO YOU DIDN'T!" Riley wanted to stand up but remembered Hoss in her lap. "LUCAS FREAKIN' FRIAR!"

"Easy baby, you're waking up Hoss!" Lucas grabbed Hoss out of her lap.

"Baby, you didn't need to do this. This is too much, I can't accept it."

"You're my fiancee, you'll accept it and you'll enjoy it. We go pick it up tomorrow. Besides, I miss my truck." Riley put her face in her hands.

"I can't believe you did this." She wiped a tear away.

"I couldn't imagine you in a mom car, so I got you the 4 door jeep. It's a 2014, it has 28,000 miles on it, and we can use it for whenever we have kids." The brunette held the keys in her hand and looked at the picture he put in the box. "Black, leather, and a hard top so we can take the top off on nice days."

"Lucas, seriously, I can't take this." He laid Hoss beside Coal and kneeled in front of his fiancee. "You've done so, so much for me already. This weekend was gift enough, and then you add in the honeymoon, and the house, and now this I can-"

"Shhh," He stroked her cheek. "Baby, I told you my finances."

"I know, but this is-"

"Would you feel better if I told you how much was growing in a savings account, it's building interest." Riley glanced at him. She was curious, but felt like it was none of her business. "I'm going to take that silence as a yes."

"NO! Stop, it's none of my business." He was walking down the hallway and yelled at her.

"Of course it is, you're my soon to be wife and you should know how much we have for our savings." He came back with the phone in his hand and he logged into his bank account. "This is what is growing for college, and our retirement. This obviously, doesn't include your 401k." The officer passed her the phone and she gasped.

"Take this away, that's a few commas." He started laughing while she placed her face back in her dainty hands. "I think I need to lie down."

"Baby, come here." He pulled her back up. "Listen to me, i'm splurging now but it isn't going to always be like this. After all the extremeties are done we're going to stop spending, I promise. Clearly this is overwhelming for you." His smile eased her nerves.

"I'm sorry, it's just i'm not used to this. I mean i'm a teacher." Riley divulged a smile and remembered a conversation they had awhile back. "I thought you said you didn't have any of this stuff, like a savings account and what not."

"I don't tell people, Missy didn't know about any of this. She never questioned where it came from and honestly if she did, I wouldn't have told her." Riley glanced at the picture. "I remember when we worked out together, did the track thing then started walking to John's, you said that a cab was a waste of money. I loved those words, I hardly heard them with my ex." She giggled. "Look, I know this is all overwhelming, and you feel bad about me spending the money but, you are keeping that jeep for a long time. The money we get from selling this house will go towards a new one and now is the right time to buy a home, the market is low. I've thought this through, and i'm not worried. I even have some money in gold and silver in case the dollar crashes." The dancer furrowed her brows, she'd heard about the idea of the dollar crashing but she didn't think it'd happen. "I'm a prepper, what can I say?" Riley giggled and clutched the key in her hand. "You can be excited now!" He covered his ears.

"YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Her arms wrapped around his neck. "Thank you. This is incredible. The best gift, besides you asking me to marry you." He kissed her cheek.

"Of course." He sighed heavily. "I love spoiling you, mostly because you truly appreciate it."

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The couple finished their breakfast and were laying back in bed together, joined by their puppies. "I may need to get a bigger bed." Riley laughed at his statement.

"No kidding, we shouldn't make this a habit though. We need to crate train Hoss."

"But, he loves to cuddle with daddy." Lucas picked up Hoss and tried to coerce his fiancee with the puppy dog eyes.

"Sorry Hoss, but mommy likes to cuddle with daddy too." The principal thought that sounded so weird and giggled. "Can we just do this all day? Lay in bed and be with each other?"

"Yes, please. I feel like we are always on the move, we celebrated with your family yesterday and talked to mine this morning. It's you and me time now!" He kissed her head and yawned.

"Sleepy boy."

"Relaxed man, is more like it. So how soon can we get married?"

"Well, that depends, on availability of venues. I haven't even started to look yet. But i've thought about a few things."

"Do tell." He smiled, knowing that she had thought about their wedding. Lucas could tell she perked up talking about it.

"Um, just the color scheme, father daughter dance song, our first dance song, and I want an outside wedding."

"Okay, what's the decisions?" She sat up and faced him.

"Really? You wanna know?" He nodded his head and a smile covered her face. "I was thinking plum and gold for the colors. Plum is dark enough for a winter wedding and the gold brightens it up. For the father daughter song I chose Cinderella." He furrowed his brows. "You know,"

 _I'll dance with Cinderella, while she's hear in my arms. 'Cause I know something the prince never knew. Oh, I will dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song. 'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone._

"I've never heard it, but i'm looking forward to it. You sound so beautiful, you should sing it." Riley grinned.

"And then for our song, I was going to see what you thought about I don't want to miss a thing."

"Sing it for me. And, then maybe if you're lucky." He leaned up and kissed her lips.

 _I could stay awake just to hear you breathing  
Watch you smile while you are sleeping  
While you're far away and dreaming  
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender  
I could stay lost in this moment forever  
Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure_

 _Don't wanna close my eyes  
I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing_

 _'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing_

 _Lying close to you feeling your heart beating  
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming,  
Wondering if it's me you're seeing  
Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together  
And I just wanna stay with you  
In this moment forever, forever and ever_

"You know that song, so i'm going to stop there." Riley mumbled.

"I think that,"

"Please answer, I just, everytime I hear that song you're the first person I think of. I don't care that it's cheesy." His straight lips turned to a smile.

"Do you honestly think i'd say no to you?" Riley dove onto his lips and kissed him, sending chills throughout his body, kissing someone never felt so right. "I can't wait to marry you Riley Matthews. I can't wait to marry you, start a family with you, move into our new home. Do whatever you want for our wedding, i'm already getting everything I wanted." He moved hair out of her eyes and stared into hers. "You."

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After several makeout sessions, sweet moments, and a little cardio session, Lucas fell asleep in bed. Riley glanced down at him and smiled, then sneakily climbed out and put on her workout clothes. Once he woke up they'd drink hot chocolate and watch White Christmas, but until then she can work on the contest modern she was choreographing.

The dancer plugged in her phone and turned on Glittering Clouds by Imogen Heap. Riley closed her eyes and mimicked the movements.

 _Domino motion, jumpstarts when we touch. A blackout approaching. Here it comes now, wish me luck. It's all over, it's all over, it's all over in a flash._ Riley was in her own world and started dancing after she moved all the furniture out of the way. _I can't remember what have I done now?_

 _Go, go faster wider. More, more get it down. Dance, dance. Take me over glittering clouds._ The principal was on the ground with her legs up in the air and rolled to a sitting position when she saw him. RIley quickly turned off the music.

"I'm sorry babe, was it too loud?"

"Stipulation for the house, you get a dance room. I love watching you dance." She smiled. "Keep going. Pretend i'm not here."

"Can you hide?" He looked at her funny but did as instructed. His green eyes watched her body move around so smoothly and precise.

 _It's all over the papers, and the TV, wagging tongues._

His jaw dropped, she was absolutely beautiful when she danced. Not to say she wasn't beautiful when she wasn't dancing, but wow. This was something he'd never really witnessed before.

 _Don't blame me. Don't maim me. I can't help what I am._

"Wow, Riley. You really are an incredible dancer." His arms wrapped around her and he held her tight. "Are you sure you don't want to consider the cheerleading thing in Dallas?"

"I'm old, and like I said i'd have practice every night until midnight, and i'd never get to see you." He kissed her head.

"You're just so talented."

"I'm putting this talent to use by teaching my girls not to give up on their dreams and teaching them." He looked into her eyes, Riley got lost in them. They were always so beautiful, and captivating.

"How can you tell them not to give up on their dreams if you aren't going after something you want?"

"Congratulations, you've made a valid point! Now, movie and hot chocolate?" She waltzed into the kitchen and started boiling some water.

"You really underestimate yourself." She rolled her eyes.

"I love my life here in Austin, I would love it wherever we were but if we don't have to move away why should we? I have the best of both worlds. I'm your fiancee and best friend, a stern principal and fun dance teacher, baby I really am so flattered that you think I could do that. Please, don't misunderstand but I would be starting our marriage by being away from you all the time, that doesn't make sense. Marriage is falling in love over and over again, always with the same person. How can I do that if i'm not around you? Plus I want to go on dates with you and enjoy our marriage. Not worry about if i'm fit enough, or the 40 plus dances i'd have to learn, or if I look presentable at all times. Let's be honest sometimes I want to leave the house with a pony tail and sweatpants." The officer laughed, letting her continue the rant. "I mean, I would've loved to be a DCC." Riley quit talking for a second and stirred her hot chocolate. "It was an old dream, but now I have a new dream, I dream of being your wife and a mother and i'd love every minute of it."

"I would hope so." He hugged her from behind and kissed her neck. "I just don't want you to have to choose between your dreams. You can do both. At least try, if you want to. I won't push anymore though. Just know how beautiful," He pecked her neck. "Sweet." He pecked her cheek. "Talented." Lucas' lips touched her ear. "And absolutely wonderful I think you are." The brunette turned around to face him.

"I do. I'm blessed enough with an amazing man who tells me every day." She kept eye contact and handed him a cup of hot chocolate. "White Christmas?"

"I'll get the blanket." His warm lips touched her sweetly before he walked away. Riley watched him and didn't move until her phone rang.

Hello?  
 _Peaches. MERRY CHRISTMAS!  
_ Merry Christmas love bug. How are you?  
 _Freaking fantastic. You know Josh's back bedroom that I was never allowed to go to?  
_ Yeah. Why?  
 _Josh redid it, and made it into an art studio for me. It's perfect, he took out the carpet and put in hardwood. He took off the doors of the closet and made shelves so I could store all of my stuff. He even bought a few of my paintings and hung them on the wall.  
_ OH MY GOSH! That's so great. I'm so happy for you Maya. I can't wait to see it.  
 _Yeah, and all I got Josh was a new handgun, thanks to you and some new boxing stuff.  
_ I'm sure he loved it all.  
 _Did Lucas just love the puppy? I bet he did, how could you not?_ Lucas turned the corner and listened to their conversation. _  
_The puppy's name is Hoss and yes he did. But, you aren't the only one who felt like you gave a mediocre gift.  
 _Uh oh, what did he get you?  
_ A car! Riley whispered.  
 _A WHAT?  
_ A 4 door jeep cherokee. I still feel awful for accepting it, he does way too much for me and he thinks i'm silly for freaking out over stuff like that.  
 _Riley, that's so great though. He knew you needed it, and i'm sure he missed his truck._ Lucas covered his mouth to hide his laugh. He really did. _You two will be married soon, you need to shake off this whole feeling guilty thing when he spoils you. Don't get me wrong, a vehicle is an over the top, extravagant gift but, quit being a cheapskate. How can he afford all of that?_ Lucas sat up straighter, preparing to interrupt the conversation.  
Oh, he's been saving for awhile. Apparently Missy never appreciated things, so he never did anything like that for her. And, he said we wouldn't be getting rid of it anytime soon, which is more than fine with me. But, we need to have lunch soon, so I can catch you up on all the details. My MOH needs the low down.  
 _No kidding. Love you peaches. Merry Christmas.  
_ Love you, merry Christmas. Tell Josh I said so too.

The brunette hung up the phone and turned around to her fiancee. "I hate lying."

"I know, but thank you for not spilling my secret. Money, tends to make people weird and I would hate to make our best friends and future family feel awkward." Riley furrowed her brows just for a moment.

"Oh my gosh I didn't even think about this! Maya's going to be my aunt!" Her jaw dropped and widened her eyes. "And your aunt in law. Ugh, this just got weird."

Lucas smirked. "Movie?"

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review. For the modern dance go to youtube and type in "2010-2011 elk strutters m lorena bowles" the video should pop up. This was my modern dance when I was a senior and I still absolutely love it.**


	4. Chapter 4-Planning

**Chapter 4-Allan House**

Riley was tapping her pen on the dining room table, her mind was going 90 miles per hour. "Venue, check. Date, check. Nothing else is done." Maya opened up the door.

"Alright, stop looking like that or you'll break your face." The brunette lightened her facial expression. "Better." The blonde sat beside her best friend at the table. "Now, tell me what's wrong, I could tell you were upset over the phone.

"I get married in 2 months and the only thing i've gotten done is the venue and the date." She started to bite her nails. "Is there like a wedding checklist I can download online?"

"And you wanted to be a wedding planner?" Maya revealed her dimples. "Yes you can download one but I have one for you right here." She laid a piece of folded up paper on the table.

"Ugh, I love you!"

The blue eyed girl smirked. "Yeah, I know."

"Go online and schedule appointments at 2 places for wedding dress shopping next Saturday for the both of us." The principal opened her laptop and did as instructed. "Peaches, don't stress out. You'll make yourself sick like you did in college during finals. Take it one thing at a time." Maya grabbed a pen and looked down the checklist.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to take care of the wedding favors, and the sparklers for your exit. That's two more things off your list." Maya made a note in her phone when the front door opened again.

"Hey beautiful." Lucas moved his eyes from his fiancee back to her best friend. "I sense a lot of tension, should I leave?"

"On the contrary Friar, I think she needs a good lay. She's stressing out. I'm out of here." The blue eyed girl stood up and kissed her friends cheek. "Love you, also order your invitations tonight as well, they take about a week to come in and they're cheaper than when you do them at a local store." Riley nodded.

"Thanks love bug."

"Thank you Maya." Lucas locked the door on her way out. "Alright sweetheart, are you okay?" He took off his belt and set it on the table.

"I'm fine." He began to rub her shoulders.

"You're extremely tense baby." His lips touched her head. "Come on."

"Lucas there's so much to do. I just scheduled appointments to get a dress next Saturday, I need to call your mom so she can drive up here. I need to order invitations-" His lips touched her neck.

"You'll still have to do it in an hour won't you?" He kissed her again. "Let me get you a glass of wine, i'll massage your shoulders and we'll watch Tombstone. In one hour, and I promise in one hour we'll work on the wedding. I'll even help you."

"Really?" Her brown eyes moved to look at him.

"Of course. I have to research realtors anyways, I can call my mom and tell her to drive up next Saturday and do what ever you ask." His smirk melted her heart.

"You're wonderful."

He began to pour a glass of wine and felt butterflies. "Isn't that why you're marrying me?"

Riley sat down on the couch and took the glass of wine. "Silly me I thought it was for your humility." She giggled and stared at him while she massaged her feet. "I'm sorry."

He furrowed his brows. "For what sweetheart?"

"For everything that is soon to befall you. I know how I get when i'm under stress." Lucas' eyes showed disappointment from her words.

"I don't want our wedding to stress you out."

She took a sip and shook her head in disagreement. "It isn't the wedding, I stress myself out. I have more time than I think I just feel the need to get it all done as soon as possible." His green eyes brightened a little bit.

"Well how about this, every day you'll force yourself to do one thing regarding the wedding. It could be something as small as setting up an appointment to go somewhere. Eventually things will work themselves out. So tonight, order invitations and be done. Sound good?" She nodded and kissed his lips. "I'll get your laptop, press play on the DVD player and you lean into me and we'll pick them out together."

"You are one of a kind Mr. Friar!"

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"Hi, how are you?" Riley sat up straighter now that the caterer arrived. "I'm Andrea Sample from Sample This Catering."

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Riley Matthews and my fiancee should be here soon." They sat down in the break room, and she continued to talk while Andrea got set up. "You come very highly recommended from a few members of the staff here."

"I thought I had been here a few times." They both giggled when Lucas walked in.

"Hey beautiful, sorry i'm late, someone didn't want to be arrested. Go figure, right!" His lips pressed against hers and sat beside his fiancee. "What'd I miss?"

"You really weren't that late, her name is Andrea that's about as far as we've gotten." His grin was adorable, she couldn't pull her chestnut eyes off of him.

The caterer placed her hands on the table and turned a sheet of paper towards her. "I have samples of everything on this menu with me. Before you start peruzzing, let me ask you are y'all doing a buffet or dining with waiters? There's a slight variation in the menu."

"Which one's cheaper?" The brunette questioned, Lucas looked to his right and shook his head.

"How about we look at the menu sweetheart and see what we want. From there we can decide what we want to do."

Andrea clicked her tongue. "Good idea. Go ahead and take a look, it's already seperated into 2 sections." The couple continued to glance at the menu and the officer touched her hand. "The menu includes tea; water, salad, rolls, and 2 wait staff, utensils, glasses, and plates. And you choose buffet or dining style. How many are estimated to come?"

The principal cleared her throat. "80. It's pretty approximate right now, we just ordered the invites last night."

"Can we try the filet and salmon please?" The green eyed man leaned back in the chair and smiled.

"You haven't eaten lunch have you?" Riley smiled trying not to laugh.

Lucas scoffed. "Insulted, that's what I am." Andrea turned away and started pulling out samples when he shook his head no.

"Alright here we go. The filet comes with julienned vegetables and potato mash. The salmon also comes with vegetables and a crab cake." They both took a bite.

"Crab cake? That's pretty fancy." The officer started laughing. "What? I'm from Texas, I don't think i've ever even had a crab cake."

"I like the filet. What about you babe?" Her eyes widened.

"They're both delicious. What's the price difference?" Lucas put his hand up.

"Andrea, will you please excuse us for a second while you do your calculations." His rough hands intertwined with her soft ones and he took her out into the hallway. "Riley, I beg of you. Stop!"

"What? Honey, I know you want me to have this lavish wedding and that's so sweet i'm extremely grateful but, it's a small wedding, and people can serve themselves." She laughed and took his hands.

"Compromise that's what marriage is supposed to be about." He divulged while he was lost in thought.

"Yeah forget about love." The officer chuckled lightly kissed her.

"If we do the cheaper option we have people serve us. If we go with the more expensive option we'll do buffet. Deal?" Her eyes rolled. "You're only getting married once sweetheart, and if you divorce me i'll take out any of your marital prospects."

"There you go sounding like you're in the mob again." His lips touched her head.

"Okay, so I want the filet mignon. What do you want? Forget about price. Quick fast decision, ready go!"

"Filet." The principal's hand rested over her mouth once she realized she shouted. "Filet mignon was delicious."

Lucas smiled and stared into her eyes, "Andrea i'm sorry just a price for the filet mignon." As usual she got goosebumps from that look.

"Wonderful, that's the first one I did." The couple sat back down and waited to hear the damage. "Okay so dining or buffet?"

"Dining please." Riley looked away trying to keep her mouth shut. Her fiancee knew it which made him giggle.

"Alright $2642.38 after taxes." The brunette squealed and kept looking away.

"Excuse her she doesn't like commas when it comes to money." Andrea giggled. "Funnily enough my christmas gift was a purebred lab and a shotgun, together the total had to have a comma." His fiancee still wasn't saying anything.

"When's the date for the wedding?" The caterer pulled out her calendar.

The dancer inhaled and was able to mumble, "April 2 at 6:30."

"I'm not trying to pressure you, but my next bride i'm meeting with also has chosen that date. Normally I wouldn't know that but she's a chatty kathy." Riley still couldn't make eye contact with either one of them. "I have a payment plan."

Lucas shook his head. "That's not necessary. My beautiful fiancee has heard wonderful things about you." He began to pull out his wallet. "You haven't bailed on anyone's wedding and if you do, obviously i'm a cop." Andrea started laughing. "Who do I make the check out to?" The principal's hold on him tightened.

"Sample this Catering. Riley, would you like to start filling out the document." She nodded with a smile. "You will get a copy of this so don't worry. The main points are, we will arrive 30 minutes before the ceremony starts and begin to set up. You mentioned on the phone the venue and we've worked there several times so no need to worry. We will set up, clean up, and serve, any leftovers will be stored in the fridge but you will be responsible for bringing them home. We do make 10 extra plates just in case, it never hurts. And lastly, if you cancel and give 2 weeks notice you will get 50 percent of your money back. After that you will get the food you ordered delivered to the address you place on the form." Lucas chuckled and pulled the check out.

"I sincerely hope we don't have to worry about that. Right Riles."

"That's correct." She mumbled.

"We will call you two days before the wedding to confirm everything. And we're assuming no one coming is allergic to anything?" The caterer questioned while filling out her portion of paperwork.

"None that we are aware of." It seemed like Riley came back to reality and smiled. Several minutes later Lucas and his fiancee were in her office. The officer sat in a chair and crossed his legs.

"You seem tense baby." He joked and pulled her down into his lap to stop her from pacing.

"Tense? That was 2600 dollars. My dress that i'll get to keep forever won't cost that much! It's food it goes away!" The officers hand grazed her thigh, moving her pencil skirt out of the way. "Excuse me. Is my skirt in the way?"

"Yes, thank you. Take it off!" Riley giggled and stood up. "Baby don't worry about it! You're going to make yourself sick if you keep worrying like this. You saw how much was in that account." The brunette sat in the big leather chair and placed her forehead on the desk. "Oh by the way how does Paris sound for a honeymoon?"

"WHAT?" Her hands slammed on the desk to raise herself up.

"Well we're going to the beach on the cruise in a little over a month so I figured you'd want to see a little bit of Europe." She didn't say anything. "Want to go get lunch?"

"WE JUST SPENT 2600 DOLLARS ON FOOD!" The officer laughed at her.

"So what's an additional 40ish dollars?" The brunette grabbed her purse and walked towards the door. "Hot date with my hot future wife! Alright. So hey quick question, should I expect this reaction everytime we spend money?"

"Yeah probably."

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Riley and Maya were sitting beside each other going through their Maid of Honor books. "Okay so you're shopping for your dress on Saturday too right?" Questioned Riley.

"Yes m'am. Josh got us a limo, and I figured we could try on maid of honor dresses while we were there. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone." Maya smiled and dropped her pen. "Alright what all do you have left?"

"Both of our wedding showers; sending out invites, dress shopping, cake testing." The brunette continued to talk when Lucas walked in the house.

"Hey baby." The green eyed man kissed her and pulled a beer out of the fridge for her. "So, I found a realtor she's very nice and wants to know some stuff we absolutely must have in our home."

"BAY WINDOW!" The blonde shouted making her best friend laugh.

"Preferably a bay window, yes. We used to sit at the one at my parents house and talk all the time, ah the good ol' days." Lucas took offense.

"Hey i'm happy you moved in with me, I think we have a happy life together!" Riley's hand touched his cheek.

"Of course baby. Um, bay window isn't necessary but a plus and a nice kitchen." She leaned back and took a sip of beer. "What are your musts?"

The officer was texting the realtor, but continued to talk. "Big backyard and your dance room."

"Honey I don't need a dance room, the living room is perfect!" Maya hugged them goodbye and left them alone.

"It isn't necessary I can always renovate a bedroom. I'm pretty handy ya' know." He winked and kissed her hand. "if we're going to live there for the rest of our lives then I want it to be what you want."

Her legs moved into her chest before she stood. "You're in charge of the house baby."

"Wait, i'm in charge of the house?" The officer stood up and followed her down the hall. "You don't want to help pick out our new house?" Riley turned on the shower and glanced at him.

"I do, it's just there's so much going on." Lucas unzipped her skirt. "It's competition season, i'm being evaluated at work, i'm planning a wedding, maid of honor for Maya." She stripped her shirt and stepped into the shower with her fiancee right behind her.

"Wait, why are you being evaluated at work?" His hands worked to massage her shoulders.

Her eyes moved across his body. "Hello Mr. Friar." The brunette giggled.

"Riles, why are you being evaluated?"

The dancers shoulders dropped as she sighed. "Um, the new superintendent found out about what Charlie did and wants to make sure I was promoted for the right reasons." Lucas' hands fell from her shoulders.

"You're amazing at your job." The dancers arms wrapped around his neck and she leaned in for a kiss.

"Thank you baby. But that's what the new guy is hoping to see, I don't blame him, Charlie wasn't stable obviously." Even the name infuriated the officer. "Hey, what's the status of him?" He clenched his jaw. "You aren't supposed to be mad in the shower with me." The brunette giggled hoping to lighten his mood, but it didn't work he wouldn't make eye contact with her. "Lucas, what's wrong?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask." His emerald eyes stared at the shower floor, he could hear her start to breathe heavy.

"Wait, what's going on? Did something happen?"

"He was put on trial and the jury declared him not guilty by reason of insanity." Lucas looked at her and saw disappointment fill her body.

"So what happens now, what does that mean?" She whispered.

He took her hand. "He goes to a mental health institution, it's like a prison but with therapists." Riley's body shook afraid to ask any more questions.

"How long?" Her voice was trembling.

"Baby-"

"HOW LONG?" She interrupted, trying to keep the rage inside of her at bay.

"There isn't a for sure amount of time, it's more like when the therapist deems him fit for society he'll be released." The shower curtain flew open, she hurriedly wrapped herself in a towel and didn't even make it out to the living room before she fell to the floor. Riley tucked her legs into her chest and cried quietly. "Riley." Lucas exhaled and kneeled beside her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her head moved to stare at her fiancee, with anger flickering in her eyes. "Why would you withhold that information from me?"

"Because it isn't important." Riley scoffed and stood up.

"It isn't important for me to know that the man who raped me, broke into my apartment, and tried to kill me might be getting out of a mental institution soon?" She started to raise her voice. "THAT IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR ME TO KNOW!"

"Riley please calm down." He could see her hands shaking, and her anger was festering towards sadness.

"He knows where I work Lucas, he knows where I hang out. He knows." Lucas clutched both of her wrists as her knees lowered towards the ground. His arms wrapped around her, stroking her hair trying to get her to calm down. "He'll find me." The brunette whispered.

"Baby, look at me." Riley leaned back and wiped her eyes before glancing at him. "I will never let anything happen to you, ever! You are my wife, mine." His jaw was tight as he bore a hole into her. Lucas' stare was intense and his once green eyes had a hint of red. "I will shoot Riley." Her eyes moved towards the ground. "Look at me." The dancer did as instructed. "If he is stupid enough to try and come around I will shoot to kill. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Her chin stopped trembling.

"You Riley Matthews are mine and I will protect you that's why it isn't important. That's why you don't need to worry about it, because I already am. Anything that happens with him, i'm notified. Okay?" Riley sniffled and hugged him.

"Okay. You called me your wife." She whispered.

"That's because I think of you as my wife and in a few months you will be." The last bit of tension escaped her body. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"You should be." They both laughed and he kissed her cheek, making his way towards her lips. Their kiss deepened as he laid her down in the hallway and removed her towel, his hand moved up her thigh, feeling her soft skin. His lips touched her stomach making her giggle, he loved when she did that, it was adorable. He smiled as he laid on top of her body and kissed her while he slid inside of her. "Oh my God Lucas, I love you."

"I love you Riley."

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**

 **Update AN: I got a review asking if this was the first time they had sex and the answer is no. They had sex right after they got engaged.**


	5. Chapter 5-Jealous

**Chapter 5**

"Ugh, my hand hurts." Riley sat at the kitchen table, addressing envelopes for the wedding on her Friday night.

"I said I could help." Lucas admitted while he played with Hoss and Coal.

"You write like a 5 year old." His eyebrows creased. "No offense."

"Why do people say 'no offense' right after they've offended someone? It's too late, i'm already offended." He joked.

"Cool your jets, don't take it personally. You saw how I was with my Christmas wrapping. It's like doubled now for my wedding." The officer snickered and Hoss started whining.

"Take a 10 minute break sweetheart, and let's all 4 go on a walk. Our little family."

The brunette buried herself into the envelopes and took her time, writing everyone's names perfectly. Her own form of caligraphy. "Riley, I hate to bother you but i'm going to do it anyways."

"Let me just finish this one and we'll go. Swear, cross my heart and hope to die." The green eyed man agreed and got the dogs ready to go. "I get Coal, you can have fun leash training Hoss."

"I thought you said you were working on it." Lucas clipped the leash onto Hoss' collar and the puppy rolled on his back to chew on it.

"I have been but, we haven't gotten very far." The family stepped outside while the sun was setting and sauntered around their neighborhood, slowly. Only because Hoss would either try to get so far ahead he would choke himself or Lucas had to drag him. "See, that's pretty much what it's been like. Here, switch me." The officer switched leashes and stopped when he realized his fiancee wasn't beside him.

The dancer kneeled down beside the puppy and wrapped the leash around her hand several times, getting rid of any extra slack. Hoss started at her as she rose from the street, "Heel." He sat down. "Good boy." Riley took a step forward, and Lucas continued to watch her, how absolutely perfect she was in every way astounded him. "Slow. I hate doing it this way because they don't have any freedom but, he's pretty stubborn. No sir, heel."

"You're incredible."

She shook her head. "No, not really or he would already have been trained."

"Sweetheart, it's been what 4 weeks? Cut yourself some slack. He knows how to sit, stay, heel, and kind of roll over, and most importantly he's potty and crate trained." His one free hand held hers. "I love our family."

"Me too. How's the house hunting going?" Her brown eyes moved to look at him.

"Pretty great, while you're out shopping for a wedding dress tomorrow i'm going to go take a look at a few and weed out the one's I can't picture us in for the rest of our lives." They both continued to walk in silence, it wasn't until he kissed her hand that she spoke.

"Lucas, are you sure you want to do this? I love this house." Lucas' green eyes glanced at her.

"I don't want to bring my future children into a home where Mis-"

"Where you brought me after you asked me to be your girlfriend, and told me you loved me. Where I came after everything that had happened to me. Where I spent my nights creeping into your room so you could console me after every nightmare." Riley didn't want to leave all the good memories in that house, but she also didn't know about all the others.

"I'm really happy that you love that house, I do too. But for me there isn't just good memories in that home. I shared it with Missy, we fought about you in that house, she tried to break us up in that house. More than likely she called my mom while standing in the living room and told her to leave me alone." The principal bit her cheek. "If you really will just despise me for wanting to move then we won't but, i'd prefer to." Riley struggled with Hoss.

"Heel." She clicked her tongue a few times. "I'm sorry baby, I wasn't even thinking about all of that stuff. Plus y'all probably slept together in that house." The officer didn't say anything. "We're using my bed from now on."

He chuckled. "I threw out those sheets if that helps."

"Good boy."

"Besides you, this house is all I want."

The principal scoffed. "And you wanted me to have a new car, and an extravagant wedding."

"Oh heaven forbid I spoil you."

She giggled. "I like being spoiled, but I hate that you feel like you have to."

"I know I don't have to. I want to." Lucas stopped her and stared into her eyes. "I want to give you everything Riley. You deserve everything and I want to give that to you."

"You are my everything Lucas. We could get married at the justice of the peace and have a small reception in our backyard and i'd love that." His lips curved upwards. "We can stay in this house or we can move into a different one. We could have a million cars and a huge wedding with a to die for honeymoon. But, please know that none of the stuff that we have or are going to have matters without you in it. I'd rather have nothing and be with you." Lucas kissed her, with his fingers running through her short hair.

"I love you."

"I love you too baby."

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"I SAID YES TO THE DRESS!" Riley sipped on champagne and was taking a picture with her best friend.

"ME TOO!" Maya exclaimed. Katy, Amy, Topanga and Laura were all snapping pictures and after asking one of the woman who worked there, they all took pictures together. Riley was so excited to get this dress, she literally cried while standing in it, which made Topanga automatically buy it for her.

"I wish I could wear them again." Joked the brunette.

"No kidding, but they both have to be ordered. Hashtag excited, hashtag wedding-" Laura leaned over to her future daughter in law.

"What's a hashtag?'

The brown eyed girl giggled. "It's a social media thing. She watched this video and has become obsessed with the word."

"Alright ladies, let's go. Champagne is in the limo." The two future brides and best friends skipped outside. They felt like little girls playing dress up and couldn't believe how much they loved their dresses. For the first time, and probably the only time Riley didn't care about the price.

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"I like this one but I don't know it doesn't feel like home. Ya' know?"

"I understand, what do you need for it to feel like home?" Whitney, the realtor questioned while staring at him.

"I don't know, I feel like I need my future wife here. She'd know, she's the decorator." Whitney rolled her eyes, but quickly got back to her new favorite past time of staring at his chiseled physique. Lucas stepped into the kitchen and closed his eyes trying to picture Riley sitting on the countertop while he cooked. "You know what, i'm sorry. Can you keep checking around for me? She wanted an island, or a bay window, so that mixed with my unsure feelings it'd be best to just move on." His green eyes moved back towards the realtor and noticed she was staring. "Whitney?"

"Yes, I will start looking for you."

"You know i'm engaged." The officer put his fist in his pockets.

"Of course. What do you mean?" She said shyly.

"Just clarifying. Um, so can you just call me whenever you find some more houses to look at?" Whitney nodded.

"I'll make sure the next houses have at least one of your fiancees requirements." His fingers worked to button up his jacket.

"Thank you Whitney. Have a great night and be careful going home. I look forward to hearing from you." The green eyed man jogged out to his truck and dialed Riley.

Hey beautiful.  
 _Hey baby!  
_ Are you all drunk?  
 _Drunk?  
_ Yes, you have your cute little tipsy voice on.  
 _Um my mom isn't but yes everyone else is.  
_ Even my mom?  
 _Um, no.  
_ So to sum up, you and Maya are drunk?  
 _Yes.  
_ You're adorable, when will you be home?  
 _We're dropping off your mother at the hotel with your father and then me. Then the rest of them.  
_ Okay sweetheart, i'm on my way right now.  
 _Great, you can tell me about the houses while I work on invitations.  
_ Probably not a great idea when you're drunk.  
 _Yes it is.  
_ Mm, no probably not. Let's take a break from wedding stuff tonight.  
 _Okay. What were you wanting to do?  
_ Want to go dancing?  
 _YAAAAASSS!  
_ I'll see you when you get home beautiful girl.

He hung up the phone and happily sighed. Lucas was so in love with her, every part of her. Drunk Riley, sad Riley, happy, sleepy and even mad.

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"I love dancing with you." Lucas yelled over the Randy Rogers music.

"Even when i'm still a little drunk?"

He spun her back into his chest and smirked. "Yes, even when you're drunk. You get incredibly adorable when you're drunk."

"I become needy." Riley's lips touched his neck.

"Something else I love about drunk Riley." The brunette had her back up against him and felt his hands caress her body. "You love having me around." He whispered, shivers went through her body. He knew what that did to her.

"Mr. Friar, we are in public."

"Sorry, you're just so sexy." His fingertips grazed her side, one of her favorite things.

"Lucas?" Riley didn't hear his name being called but his eyes moved around the dance hall to find the source of the noise. "Lucas?"

"Whitney, hi!" The brunette stopped dancing and turned her attention to the short beautiful blonde girl to their left. "This is my fiancee Riley, Riley this is our realtor Whitney." A look of realization dawned on her.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. I've heard wonderful things." The principal shook her hand. Whitney glanced at Lucas with a seductive smile.

"Lucas, you're too much."

"So are you." Drunk Riley also couldn't keep her mouth shut. Her brain didn't even have time to process what she said.

"Excuse me?" Uttered the realtor.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from." Lucas gazed at his fiancee then turned his attention back to Whitney, hoping to make this situation less awkward.

"You out with some friends?"

"Yeah, actually. My sisters, Hannah and Alexa." 2 other blonde women waltzed up and the green eyed man was pulled into conversation. Eventually his hand that was on her waist dropped to his side and the brunette walked to the bar.

"Hi, can I get a shot?" She pronounced.

"What kind?"

"I don't care." Her fingers tousled her hair and she felt the incision from her surgery. She pulled some cash from her front pocket and laid it on the table. "Thank you." Riley swallowed the shot like a champ and turned around to go back to her fiancee. "Son of a-" They had him surrounded. "One more."

"Ladies, I need to get back-"

"Dance with us." The officer realized Riley wasn't around.

"No." Lucas ran towards the bar. "Sir, did a super gorgeous woman come over here. Short brown hair, brown eyes about 5' 10"."

"Yeah, she left about 5 minutes ago." The green eyed man sighed and dialed her number.

 _Hello?  
_ Where are you?  
 _Outside._

Lucas hung up the phone and pushed through the crowd to get outside. "What are you doing out here?"

"I needed some air." The brunette glanced at her fiancee, and quickly went back to picking out her nails. "Can we go home please?"

The drive home was silent, Lucas knew she was upset and was just waiting on her to yell at him. "Hey beautiful?"

"Hm?" Her eyes continued to stare out the window.

"Can we talk-"

Riley interrupted him, "when we get home." Oh boy, he thought. His wheel turned into the driveway and the dancer jumped out of the truck and stood by the door waiting for him to unlock it. The front door shut and the officer hastily locked it then moved to sit on the couch.

"Alright sweetheart, talk to me." Riley placed her chin in the palm of her hand.

"You first."

"I'm sorry about what happened tonight. We were having an amazing time tonight and I ruined it." It was really weird how she wasn't furious with him, her gorgeous eyes weren't even holding a flicker of fire.

"Apology accepted. Ready for bed?" Riley rose from her seat and moved to go to their room when his wrist stopped her. "What's wrong?"

"You aren't okay and we aren't going to bed angry." His emerald eyes glanced at his fiancee. "Sit down." With reluctance the brown eyed girl backed up and sat down. "We don't fight in the bedroom, you know that. So i'm not going back there with the possibility of that happening."

"What do you want me to say Lucas?"

"Why are you upset? Obviously I know, but I want to know what you're feeling."

She scoffed. "I was jealous."

"Jealous? You were jealous?"

The dancer seperated her lips, "yes I was. You were surrounded by 3 cute blonde women-"

"Riles, do you not know how much I love you?"

"Lucas, just because I know you love me doesn't mean I can't be jealous. You jumped at the opportunity to talk to her, and you've been texting her and looking at houses with her. Then as soon as her sisters walk up you move your hands off of me, and I leave to go get a shot. I took another shot, you still didn't realize I was gone and I walked outside. 10 minutes Lucas, it took you 10 minutes to realize I was gone and call me." He bit his cheek and absorbed her words before replying. "I could just be feeling sorry for myself but that's how I feel." They both took a moment of silence.

The green eyed man clenched his jaw. How could she think he'd do anything like that? "What do you think happens? Do you think when Whitney and I go to these houses we sleep together?" That thought hadn't even crossed her mind, and she was very surprised to hear him say that. It was very out of character.

"No I just-"

"No Riley, you were jealous for a reason. You think i'd cheat on you?" The brunette didn't get a chance to get a word out before he spoke again this time standing and pacing the living room. "I've made it very clear to Whitney that I am taken. Do you not trust me?"

She shook her head from left to right. Trying to keep up with his rambling. "Lucas of course-" His lips started to move again and after swallowing back her tears she stood up. "HEY!" The officer stopped what he was doing and stared at her. "STOP TALKING!" Lucas could tell she was forcing back her emotions, wanting to cry and he hated himself. "I'm going to take 5 minutes in our room, away from you. Please respect what I want. In 5 minutes we'll come back together and you can yell at me some more." She meandered down the hallway.

"Riley, i'm sorry baby." He heard their door shut and he immediately wanted to hit himself. "Lucas you freaking idiot. She had every right to be jealous." He glanced at his watch and sat outside their door.

Riley sat on their bed and wiped off the few tears that graced her freckled cheek. Maybe he just got defensive because of Missy? They used to argue about her a lot, instinct? Old habits die hard. Either way the brunette had never seen him that way before and it wasn't something she enjoyed. But loving someone was loving every part of them, even the parts deep inside of them. Her eyes closed and no matter how hard she tried to push it away, the scenario was on repeat in her mind. The dancer heard beeping outside of the door and then a knock. The doorknob turned and Lucas peered in through the crack.

"Hey beautiful." The principal wiped away some more tears. "Can I come hug you?"

"Yeah." The palm of her hands slid across the denim of her blue jeans and the green eyed man basically tackled her onto the bed.

"I'm so sorry Riley." His whisper was filled with regret and love. How was that possible? "I'm so sorry baby, I can't believe I did that." Her lips touched his cheek.

"I'm okay."

"No, you're crying. Because of me, I should be the one drying your tears not causing them." They both sat up and he pulled her onto his lap. "I know you trust me, and I know you know I love you, and you had every right to be jealous." Her arms wrapped around his neck, "I love you baby."

"I love you too." Lucas closed his eyes and hugged her, occasionally tightening his grip. "I'm sorry baby, you're right. I had no reason to be jealous, I think I just was wanting to feel sorry for myself. It's the damn alcohol. I'm not drinking anymore."

"Yes you are."

"Yeah, I am." Her lips crashed onto his.

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	6. Chapter 6-Everything You Got

**Chapter 6**

"Shoes, shoes, shoes." Riley peruzzed Macy's, staring at all the heels and wasn't finding anything jumping out at her. "Are you having any luck?"

"Eh, I see a few things I like. Nothing I love." Maya groaned, "Dillard's is across the mall we can go check that out."

"I just don't want to go to a wedding store, they're so expensive. If we don't find anything at Dillard's i'm going online." The girls smiled at each other and began to leave when they ran into a not so friendly face.

"Hello Riley." The brunette inhaled deeply.

"Hi Missy. How are you?"

"As well as to be expected seeing as you stole my boyfriend."

Her brown eyes narrowed, "Okay first, I never stole Lucas. He broke up with you then we got together like a week later. Second, you two broke up 6 months ago. I would say it's time to get over yourself." The dancer moved her left hand to grab the blonde's arm when Missy clutched her fingertips, staring down the large sparkly diamond that rested on her thing fingers.

"What's this?"

"Well, it's on my left hand. On my ring finger, i'd say it's an engagment ring." She ripped her hand away. "Don't touch me again. I'm not as delicate as I was the last time you saw me."

"Like that'll last." His ex scoffed.

"At least he proposed." Maya interjected, "you two were together for how long and you barely got an I love you, they get married in April."

"Who are you?"

"My maid of honor. Have a nice day." Riley tugged her best friend out of the store, out of the situation and waited till they were a good distance away before she could get mad. "Maya Penelope Hart! Why did you say I was getting married in April?"

"Why shouldn't I have? It was to place emphasis on the fact that you two aren't waiting long."

The brunette sighed and put her arm around the blonde while they pushed their way through the crowd to Dillard's. "I just don't trust her, when the pastor says 'if anyone objects' she'll pop up out of nowhere and say 'me, me'. What even happens if someone objects? Do we kick them out and ask again?"

The blue eyed girl smiled, "I don't know, no one ever objects in movies. And if they do, the bride is like oh I really love that guy instead. And, I didn't say a day or a venue, so don't be so paranoid."

"My life has become an endless cycle of being paranoid. Paranoid is really strong, can we say aware?" The friends entered the store and sighed, "I feel like an old lady even walking into this store, that's it! I'm going online!"

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"Hello beautiful." Riley's body collapsed onto Lucas'. "I see you bought, nothing."

"I couldn't find shoes, so i'm going online. I did find something though," The brunette sat up glanced at him, "Well, someone." She kicked off her shoes.

"Missy?"

Her brows furrowed, "do I want to know how you know that?" His fingertips moved on his phone and played a voicemail. It wasn't even on speaker and she heard her venom, plain as day.

"I should probably change my number." The officer mumbled, "what did she say?"

"I stole you, she grabbed my hand to stare at the ring and then said we weren't gonna last. I did most of the talking and got the hell out of there since Maya told her we were getting married in April."

"Geez, Maya." The green eyed man hid them from the world, "she's crazy. She'll find a way to get the date and what not."

"This isn't the 50's, we aren't putting a wedding announcement in the paper. There are tons of venues in Austin and there are 30 days in April. Odds are, she won't figure it out. At least, I hope so." The dancer stood up and sauntered into the kitchen, "food. I need food. ICE CREAM!"

"I wouldn't call that food. Do you want me to make something?" Lucas sat up on the couch and stood up.

"First of all shut your face! This is absolutely a food, or it wouldn't be in the 'frozen food' section. And no, thank you though. I'll just snack." Riley took her usual spot on the countertop and after throwing the lid of the ice cream off dug in.

"Hey sweetheart."

"Yeah, wow this is cold." The brunette giggled and promptly took another bite, and felt her fiancee move in front of her. "You're close."

"Yes, I am. How're you feeling?'

She glared her eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. "Unforgiving, why? What do you want?"

Lucas chuckled lightly, warming her heart. "I don't want anything. I just know you've been stressed lately, you got angry about Charlie, Missy, I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Yeah, i'm great. I'm doing one thing at a time like you said. Trying not to freak out at money, but i'm alone in my office a lot." His fingertips ran through her hair.

"If ever you want to run away and elope, let me know." Her eyes rolled, "I'm serious."

"No. We've paid for the caterer, venue, dress-"

"It isn't about money beautiful, it's about your happiness. I didn't ask you if you wanted a bigger wedding, I just assumed. I'm all for it, whatever you want. Just know it's an option." His lips touched hers. "I love you."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Excuse me?" The green eyed man questioned and snatched her ice cream away.

"NO! Give it back right now Mr. Friar!" Her arms reached for the tub.

"You better say it, or this ice cream is going into the trash." Her nose scrunched, "say it! Say you love me."

"I love you." The brunette mumbled.

"What, i'm sorry? I couldn't hear you."

"I LOVE YOU!" The green eyed man kissed her again and passed her the ice cream.

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 _Principal Matthews._

"Yes?"

 _This is Nora, your new office assistant, i'm calling you from the front._

"Yes m'am. How can I help you Nora?"

 _You have a visitor up front._

"Okay, who is it?" Riley heard some mumbling and a cough before Nora spoke again.

 _She said you'd want to see her._

"Alright, go ahead and send her in."

The principal stood up and straightened out her blazer when the door opened. Her smile immediately faded as she sat back down in her chair. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too."

"Missy, this is my job. What do you want?" Missy found her way to the chair in front of her desk. "I don't even have to ask you that, there's nothing I can help you with. Please leave."

"You're getting awful defensive, awfully fast. Is it because you're intimidated by me?" The brunette's folded hands landed on her desk.

"You're gorgeous Missy, but your personality bites. I'm not intimidated, i'm curious though why do you keep popping up out of nowhere?"

Lucas' ex ran her fingers through her hair. "Clearly you're a business woman so I will get right to it. I want him back."

"He's not for sale." Riley replied sharply while texting Lucas, "now please leave, before I have our resource officers come escort you out." The woman in front of the principal snickered and rose from her chair.

"Let's hope the new superintendent finds your performance satisfactory." Her fingers held the door knob when the dancer stood up, hands on her desk.

"Excuse me?"

"Caught your attention did I?" Missy let go of the knob and played with her nails. "He's a close personal friend."

"Meaning you've slept with him." She didn't reply, her glare made it evident how furious she was. "So you're blackmailing me, Lucas or my position as principal?"

Her dainty, tan hands clapped together. "Very good, seems as if the kids here are getting a top notch education."

The principal folder her arms and lightly laughed, "if rolls were reversed and your precious modeling career were on the line which would you choose? Lucas or modeling?"

"Why does that matter?"

"To show you how completely and undeniably different you and I are." Riley sauntered towards the front of her desk, "I don't have to think about it. I would choose Lucas a thousand times over. You however, wouldn't sacrifice people fawning over you. If I get demoted so be it, but don't you dare come in here and think you have ANY sort of power over me."

"Don't I?"

"Do you? I don't think you even know. Want to know what I think?" The brunette stated, completely unphased by her vague threat.

"Not really."

"That's to damn bad, you're in my office and you'll listen. Your value is what other people, particulary men see it to be. Grow a pair and get over Lucas, because I can tell you for a well known fact he is way over you. You don't scare me, come at me with everything you got." Lucas' ex was completely shocked, the last time she saw Riley she was cowering behind him.

Missy's jaw clenched. "Seems as if you got your voice back."

"Seems as if you lost yours." The door opened and there was her fiancee. "Officer Friar, will you please escort Ms. Bradford from the building?"

"Gladly sweetheart." Lucas' smile melted her heart.

"This isn't over Riley." She uttered.

"I believe you."

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Lucas closed the door to her vehicle, "alright Missy, I think it goes without saying that you don't need to come back here. Have a nice day." His hand tapped her car twice.

"You aren't going to arrest me? Like the bad girl I am?" She uttered, with a seductive grin.

"I wouldn't arrest you," the officer smiled, "I'd take you to a psych ward."

"Oh come on, you're telling me that she plays games in bed? A principal? She's wearing an effing blazer."

Lucas' hands landed on his hips, "not that it is any of your business but we don't have to. She more than satisfies me in every way possible without playing games. Leave her alone, I love her. Not you." He moved to walk back inside when she yelled something from her car. "What?"

"I heard about Mr. Gardner, poor Riley. He gets no jail time, soon to be walking free." Her lips pouted, as if she was actually sad.

"What're you getting at?"

"I would hate for someone to let it slip where she lives now."

The green eyed man clenched his jaw, "if he does happen to get out, and 'someone' let's it slip, just know i'll be waiting with my shotgun." Missy's glare turned to a wide eyed look, "make sure to pass that information along. It uh, it could be valuable."

Lucas jogged back inside and took a deep breath to calm down before entering her office. "Hey baby." Riley sauntered towards him and kissed his lips. "Thank you for your help."

The officer instantly relaxed. "Of course, you were just wanting to rub salt in the wound weren't you?"

"I didn't know you'd come, I simply texted that she was here." Her tone was sweet but her smirk agreed with his statement. "What'd she say?"

"False threats mostly. You?"

She moved her head from left to right while working on her computer, "same. Apparently she knows the new superintendent, intimately and wants me to choose. You or my job."

"Damn it, you chose your job."

"Yeah, and i'm hawking the ring." Her brown eyes quickly glanced at him with a small smile, then moved back towards the screen. "Kidding, i'd give this back if something did happen. Knock on wood." She leaned back in her chair. "No, i'd choose you over and over. If I get demoted so be it. I can just appeal the decision, take it to the school board and if at that point they feel i'm not suitable then i'll take the demotion."

"I'm sorry sweetheart, she's such a pain in the ass."

The principal giggled, "yeah no kidding. If that's your choice in women what does that say about me?"

"You are nothing, I repeat nothing like her. Thank God." Lucas landed in the office chair.

"Slow day?"

"No, why?" He questioned.

"Because you're sitting here." The brunette joked, "and you were available when I texted you."

"One last question and i'll go." She nodded, urging him to continue, "will you go on a date with me tonight?"

"Of course. But it's a school night, so I can't stay out late." The officer stood up and leaned over the desk to give her a kiss. "Love you. Please be safe."

"Always am."

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"How are you and Maya? Haven't seen y'all in awhile, well together." Lucas was filling out some paperwork and set it down to glance at his partner across the desk.

"Great, want to double tonight? Go grab a beer?" Josh suggested.

"Nah, thanks though. I'm taking Riley out on a date, she's stressed. She doesn't want me to see but I can tell. She knows about Charlie, Missy's been giving her hell, the house, the new superintendent, the wedding all of it." The green eyed man uttered.

"Yeah, you should've seen Riley in college. She'd make herself sick, we thought she was bulimic for awhile. She was constantly throwing up around exam time."

"That's attractive." He joked. "You know, seperately she could handle this stuff okay, but I think she's overloaded. I even offered to run away and elope and the first thing she thought of is the money us and her parents would lose. She's not sleeping well-"

"Did she say that?" The green eyed man shook his head. "Then how do you know she's not sleeping well?"

"Because i'm not sleeping well." They both laughed.

"Yeah, I hear that." The partners sighed, "the things we do for our girls."

"No kidding. Can't wait for this cruise, get away from it all."

Josh scoffed, "the cruise is at the end of March, you get married 2 weeks later. I highly doubt you'll get away from it all."

"She's got a lot of stuff done already. I'll ban wedding talk, unless it's like the 'I can't wait for my wedding' type of conversation."

"Yeah, keep dreaming man." Josh stood up and shook hands with Lucas. "Alright, I guess i'll go do what i'm getting paid for. We're on patrol tomorrow, by the way."

"Yeah I remember."

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"And then she says, this isn't over." Maya sat on the couch while Riley folded clothes.

"Can I punch her, just one good one right to the nose?" The blonde offered.

"If anyone punches her it'll be me. If it wouldn't get me an assault charge, and losing my job then I absolutely would." The brunette glanced at the pile of clothes Hoss knocked over. "HOSS! No sir! Go outside." She jumped over the couch to let him out into the backyard. "You know I don't give a damn if I get demoted, I can wear comfortable clothes all day and dance. Like my dream."

"Maybe you should step down."

"Shut your face. I love my job, I just won't be too upset if I do lose my job as principal." Her phone started to ring.

 _Hey you beautiful thing you.  
_ What up?  
 _Why are you talking like a gangster?  
_ You know how I say you sound like you're in the mob sometimes?  
 _Yes.  
_ All fear of you being in the mob went out the window when you said the word 'gangster'.  
 _Haha, very funny.  
_ Yeah, I am. What's up baby?  
 _I'm fixing to head out of here. We'll get changed and head out.  
_ Where are we going?  
 _Dinner and a movie?  
_ Fun. Deadpool?  
 _PLEASE!  
_ Alright baby. Love you.  
 _Love you too._

Lucas set down his phone and checked his e-mail one more time before leaving for the day. There was one new one, the subject line read, Charlie Gardner. "Alright Mr. Gardner how was your day?"

 _To: Lucas Friar.  
From: Dr. Knicks.  
_Subject: _Charlie Gardner_

 _Evaluation today went well. He had a visitor, last name Bradford, first name Missy._

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	7. Chapter 7-DOLLARS?

**Chapter 7**

"That little-" Lucas cut himself off before he said a few choice words.

To: _Dr. Knicks.  
_ From: _Lucas Friar.  
_ Subject: _POI_

 _Dr. Knicks, is there a way to bar someone access to a patient? Is there an ETA on when our person of interest will be getting out. Please let me know at your earliest convenience._

Lucas shut the laptop and sighed heavily. "We have to get out of that house." The officer grabbed his truck keys and after getting to his truck dialed Whitney.

 _Hello?  
_ This is Lucas.  
 _Hey, how are you?  
_ I'm going to be okay. I'm hoping you have some good news for me.  
 _I have 3 more houses. One with a bay window, one with the kitchen you specified and one that I think you may like, just for fun.  
_ Um, let's see today is Thursday. Can we take a look at them tomorrow night?  
 _We as in?  
_ Myself and my fiancee.  
 _Right. Right. 5:30 okay?  
_ Yes, that should be fine.  
 _Great i'll text you the address._

The green eyed man began driving and dialed another number.

 _I thought i'd be hearing from you.  
_ What the hell do you think you're doing?  
 _Excuse me?  
_ You don't think I get notifications on Charlie?  
 _Obviously you are upset, why don't you come over and we can talk about it.  
_ You don't know what you're doing Missy. I more than strongly suggest you stop.  
 _I'm not doing anything.  
_ I need you to listen carefully. I'm going to say this once, and only once. Stay the hell away from my fiancee.  
His tone was so intimidating and stern. _She should've left my boyfriend alone.  
_ So you go to the man who tried to kill her? Hello? MISSY!

Lucas threw his phone and slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "Alright Luke, Charlie isn't out. You'll be out of that house by the time he does." He turned into his driveway, "you will protect Riley. She's not going anywhere." He took a deep breath and walked inside his home.

"Hey baby!" His green eyes traced Riley's smile. She was so gorgeous, he couldn't imagine life without her.

"Hey sweetheart." The brunette wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him. "Mm, what was that for?"

"Just because I kind of love you! Now, go change. Movie starts in 30 minutes." The brunette watched him move down the hallway and could tell something was wrong. "Wait!" The officer quit moving, "turn around." A wry smile approached his lips as he moved to face her, "what's wrong?"

"What do you mean beautiful?" Her chestnut eyes narrowed and slowly her hands landed on her hips. "I don't know-"

"Don't lie to me Lucas Gabe." The dancer's eyebrow started to raise.

"Don't, don't do the eyebrow thing. I don't want to be in trouble, put it back." She giggled and skipped into his arms. "Okay please don't freak out, but Missy went to visit Charlie today." Riley's smile faded and her eyes widened.

She cleared her throat, hoping to hide the fear, "why?"

"Let's have a seat beautiful girl."

She shook her head, "just tell me. Why did the woman who wants you back go see the man who tried to kill me?"

"I'm assuming she's given him our address." The brunette nodded slowly and put up her finger. She sauntered around in the living room for a few moments and caught a glimpse of the front door. "No m'am, you aren't leaving. It's dark out." The principal put up her finger again with a firey look in her eye and entered their garage where the punching bag was waiting for her. Lucas was only a few steps behind her when she started punching and round house kicking the bag. The green eyed man grabbed a beer from the fridge and continued to watch her, the situation sucked but he was impressed at her form and power.

10 minutes later she grabbed the bag and started quietly crying, "if I-" Riley cleared her throat. "If I beat the shit out of her, would I get arrested?" Her red eyes turned to look at him.

"More than likely." Sweat glistened on her forehead and her fingers twirled her hair, "come here baby girl." Her forehead landed into his chest. "I have some houses lined up to look at tomorrow, we're getting out of this house."

"Why do you sound worried?" At least that's what he thought she said, her mouth was pressed into him.

"I'm not worried. I don't want you to worry." He lifted her hands and saw her knuckles, "come here. Let's get you cleaned up, we use gloves to prevent scratches and infections."

"I know." The dancer replied sharply.

"Easy." His strong arms lifted her onto the countertop, like her dad did when she was a little girl. "I'm going to protect you baby. I'm looking into barring her access to Charlie."

"It's too late." The brunette whispered with her eyes focused on the tile. "Even if she was barred access, i'm sure the lovely Missy has already divulged my address. He's probably already got it memorized. She's probably already talked to the superintendent-"

"Hey, look at me." Her focus moved to Lucas' beautiful jade eyes. So captivating, no matter what situation. His hands held her face, "don't stress out. You have a lot on your plate sweetheart, remember one thing at a time."

A tear escaped from her eyes. "I'm scared." Lucas kissed his fiancee and hugged her tight.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

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Lucas opened up his laptop and instantly checked his work e-mail. "Oh thank God."

 _To: Lucas Friar.  
From: Dr. Knicks.  
Subject: POI_

 _He's moving pretty quickly through my sessions. There's no ETA because patients can degress at any point and time. But, if he continues this momentum 2 months? He'll be placed on house arrest at a group home per my instructions for minimum of 30 days, then as you know he'll have limitations on what he can do with a curfew. For instance he can't go around Ms. Matthews, if he does then he'll be sent back here for re-evaluation. In regards to barring access, we can if there is a reputable reason to do so. Is she a threat to him?_

 _Regards,_

 _Dr. Knicks_

"Son of a bitch." Lucas played with his lips.

 _Dr. Knicks,_

 _Thank you for the information. Please continue to send updates on Mr. Gardner, and please notify me in advance when he is released. The situation is complicated, my fiancee is Ms. Matthews, the woman who came to see Mr. Gardner yesterday is my ex-girlfriend who is hell bent on ruining our lives. We're pretty sure Ms. Bradford gave Mr. Gardner our home address. I would like to start the process of barring her access to him. I'm sure you can understand Ms. Matthews' worry and my own. Please let me know. Thank you._

"What's wrong?" Josh leaned on his doorway.

"Missy visited Charlie yesterday. We're pretty sure she gave him our home address." Lucas rubbed his face and leaned back in his chair.

"That little-"

"That's what I said." The green eyed man interrupted before he said something he'd regret. "I don't know what to do. This couldn't have come at a worse time, I knew Charlie would get out eventually but he had no idea where we were going to be."

"Come on, let's walk and talk. I'll drive." They sauntered towards the car, "what's Riley saying about all this?"

The green eyed man sighed, "she's terrified. She keeps saying she trusts me but, most of last night she spent punching a punching bag, crying or you know some other things." A small smile crept to his lips, but disappeared when Josh hit him in the stomach.

"No! She's my niece!"

"Sorry man, sometimes I see you as just my partner. Not my fiancee's niece. As her uncle what would you do in this situation?" Riley's uncle exhaled.

"I would kill Charlie and after you sick Riley on Missy, i'd get a restraining order."

Lucas smiled, "as my partner?"

"I would kill Charlie and put a restraining order on Missy." Josh turned the wheel, "Look, I know you can take care of Riley. I'm not denying that, you're a better cop than i'll ever be. But i'd get the hell out of that house and soon. Also, this just came to me. Firewalls at schools suck, people can hack in and get her address once you move, get a PO box as her mailing address."

"She'd never go for a restraining order. My lovely fiancee is just looking for a reason to knock her out, I think she sometimes wishes Missy would swing first." The partners were laughing but silenced whenever the police scanner went off.

 _We have a 245, at the gas station on the corner of Sunset and Main. Any officers respond?_

"This is Officer Friar and Officer Matthews, in pursuit. 3 minutes out." They flipped the lights on, "assault with a deadly weapon, you ready Matthews?"

"Is that even a question?" The partners fist bumped and began to mentally prepare themselves.

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"Hello Superintendent Cross, how are you?" Riley put her hand out for a shake and he returned the gesture.

"Principal Matthews, how are you?"

"Please have a seat," they both sat down before she continued, "i'm great actually."

"Look, i'm a busy man so i'll get right to it. I'm sure you are aware, that I know about your situation with the previous superintendent, Gardner or whoever." The brunette nodded and gulped, hoping to hide her nerves. "I'm hoping you understand the evaluation."

"Of course."

"I wanted to come down here and personally tell you instead of you hearing it through the grapevine. I'll be pulling some records from last semester and collecting statements from teachers. I'll be dropping by from time to time as well, and I received your e-mails regarding the time off requested in March and in April."

She cleared her throat, "the March time off is one work day since it is during spring break. In April i'm getting married, so that time off is for my wedding day and honeymoon. I did check the schedule it is on a 3 day weekend so it would be 4 days and obviously Vice Principal Hanes would be acting principal while I was away and the dance teacher would supervise my team and i'd leave detailed instructions for the captain to run the practice." Riley took a deep breath.

"Okay, i'll approve it. I'll be dropping in occasionally to check on you." Mr. Cross rose from his chair and shook hands with Riley. "Have a nice day Ms. Matthews."

"You too superintedent." Her office door shut and her heart finally started to beat normally. She was glad that he left the office because her cell phone started to vibrate.

Hello?  
 _Hey beautiful. I can't remember if I told you but we've got some houses to look at tonight.  
_ Okay, no problem.  
 _What's wrong?  
_ Nothing, the new superintendent just left so i'm a big ball of nerves. But, nothing is wrong per say.  
 _Try not to stress out sweetheart.  
_ I'm not stressed. I'm anxious?  
 _Hey, since we didn't get to dinner last night how about I take you to the movies tonight after we look at the houses?  
_ You're wonderful.  
 _Anything for you.  
_ Does Whitney know i'm coming?  
 _Yes m'am.  
_ Why do you have to be so damn good looking and charming?  
 _What?_ He lightly laughed.  
I just have a feeling i'm going to fight either Missy or Whitney one before this wedding is through.  
 _Preferably Missy. But i'm not going to let you get yourself in trouble.  
_ Really? Not even just one good one, like a whackamole?  
 _I don't think so. Baby, I can tell you're a little stressed out so drop some stuff on me. And my offer to elope still stands._

"Come in." Her office door opened.

Lucas Gabe Friar, what did you do?  
 _Whatever do you mean?_

"Thank you so much sir. Have a wonderful day."

'These flowers aren't as gorgeous as your smile, but they sure as hell can try'. That's definitely something you would say.  
 _I can't tell if that's insult or compliment.  
_ Both? They're beautiful baby, thank you.  
 _Anytime. I have to go but I love you.  
_ I love you too. Please be careful.

"You didn't tell her about your black eye, busted lip and cut on your cheek." Josh mentioned.

"Nope, is it so bad if I just surprise her with it? Like hey, i'm a little rough around the edges but I got you some flowers so you can't be mad."

Her uncle laughed, "Maya would probably cause a black eye if I didn't tell her. But Riles is a little nicer. You maybe in luck."

"It isn't that bad. My eye is barely black, besides the other guy is a lot worse."

"That's what he gets for trying to fight Officer Friar."

The green eyed man smirked, "I don't ever want to hurt someone, except maybe Missy or Charlie. In general I don't want to hurt people I became an officer to help people."

"You know I kind of dare Charlie to come around. Hell I dare both of them to come around, Missy's modeling career would be over and Charlie wouldn't be alive." Josh pronounced.

"That's our justice system for ya'." Lucas sighed, heavy with worry. "No I don't want Riley to worry about him being around. We just need to get out of that house."

"Oh by the way, I liked your subtle hint about eloping."

"Okay, thank you so it wasn't so subtle it should be missed. It wasn't even acknowledged." He chuckled, "she can wear whatever dress she has to the courthouse, or little chapel in Vegas. I don't care, I want to see her in it."

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Riley met Lucas at the first home they were looking at, he was still in his uniform and looked damn fine. "Hello officer Friar." His head rose from the ground, "what the hell officer Friar? What happened babe?"

"It's nothing sweetheart." Her hands cupped his face, "really i'm fine. Part of the job, I got a call out for assault with a deadly weapon and that weapon was a knife. He cut me before I knocked the knife out of his hands."

She smacked his chest, "I told you to be careful. Why didn't you just pull your gun or taser or something?"

"When he saw us pull up he grabbed a woman. I didn't want to open fire with a convenience store full of people. I snuck in through the back." Riley wrapped her arms around him. "I'm fine baby, really. I love your hugs though."

"I love you." A car door slammed shut, indicating Whitney was here.

"Alright y'all, this is the first house. This one has the bay window in the dining room. The kitchen doesn't have an island but it does have granite countertops." Lucas placed his hand on the small of Riley's back and helped her inside.

"Wow, this is beautiful." Her brown eyes traced the hardwood floor.

"It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a 2 car garage. There's a pool in the back as well, I understand that wasn't necessary but it might be a perk." Lucas turned around to look at his fiancee who had already found the bay window, the smile on her face said it all.

"Whitney give us a minute please." The realtor stepped out of the living room and the officer sauntered towards the brunette. "This is it."

"What? We haven't even looked at the house yet."

"I can see you here." The green eyed man stated with his gorgeous smile.

"Yeah, because i'm here." Riley giggled.

"No, I mean I can see myself in this kitchen cooking and looking over and you're reading on the bay window with a blanket covering your feet since they always get cold." The dancer couldn't believe how lucky she was. "Let's take a look at the rest of the house, but ultimately unless there are any big problems we're getting this one."

"Baby, don't just choose this house because of the whole Charlie thing." Her feet found their way back on the floor.

"I'm not." His hands found hers, quickly pulling her into his chest. "I'm choosing this because I can see us here, our kids playing in the living room, you reading on the bay window." The principal opened her mouth to speak, "no. This is my jurisdiction!"

She giggled while kissing his lips, "come on. Let's finish looking at it."

"This is where I come in." Whitney stepped out of one of the bedrooms, and the couple followed her. "Each bedroom has a walk in closet, but I will take you to the master."

"Oh my God!" The brunette covered her mouth, "this is beautiful."

"The carpet was replaced within the last few months, again there's a walk in closet with built in shelves for shoes." Lucas scoffed.

"She has a ton of shoes."

Whitney grinned, "the french doors open up to a small porch. The last owners had a table and chairs out there, and the fireplace is electric." Riley moved towards the master bathroom, "the shower is a walk in rain shower with a bench and there are jets in the tub."

"RAIN SHOWER!" The officer smiled watching her get so happy. "His and hers sinks, wow!" She stepped out of the bathroom, "how much is this place?"

"DON'T answer that Whitney." Riley's brown eyes narrowed, "let's take a look in the backyard." The realtor opened the french doors, "we have to make sure there's enough room for our dogs right?" Lucas wrapped his arm around his fiancee who was glaring.

Whitney cleared her throat, "the pool isn't deep at all going from 4 foot to 5 and back to 4. It's made for water volleyball and children. The property sits on right at three fourth's of an acre, there are lots of trees towards the back and flood lights positioned around the house." Riley loved this house, and the expression across her face made it apparent to the green eyed man. She could see herself having picnics by the trees in the back.

"Whitney, now you can tell us the price."

"It's still within your budget. This home is $285,000."

"DOLLARS?" Riley shouted.

"Sweetheart, stop it." His hands cupped her face, "you love this house."

"That's over a quarter of a million dollars baby." The brightness in her eyes was fading.

"This house is way undervalued, the new carpet, the tile was redone in the shower, the dark hardwood, granite countertops but most of all seeing you this happy. I can't put a price on that and I have more than enough to pay for this, this is my jurisdiction. Remember? You put me in charge of this." His gorgeous eyes turned to Whitney, "put in an offer of $280,000. Make sure they know it'll be in cash. We'll take it."

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	8. Chapter 8-Letters

**Chapter 8**

The night sky was adorned with twinkling lights as they walked around the park. "Our dates keep getting ruined." Lucas swung their holding hands, and grinned. "Tomorrow night for sure."

"I'm sorry baby. It's just if we get this house, we will be spending 280 thousand dollars. I'm just trying to wrap my brain around this. Like, it is mentally hard for me to grasp." Riley mumbled, "i'm expensive."

"You are perfect." Her brown eyes couldn't help but roll, "you can't argue with me about this. What's done is done, and that's the only house I could picture us in. Plus, you can't put a price on your happiness."

"You can't put a price on your happiness." She mimicked.

"Do you want to get in trouble?"

"You won't do anything out here." The brunette's eyebrows rose, "I could say anything right now and you won't do anything."

"Why do you think that?" He mumbled and followed her towards a tree. The officer's back landed against the dark brown bark.

The dancer stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "I believe the official term is public indecency."

"Ooo that was sexy." The green eyed man grinned and kissed her cheek.

"So I could say I wanted you here and now, and there'd be nothing you could do." Riley held a seductive smile and took a step back.

"Where are you going?" Lucas pulled her back into his chest. "Technically, my truck is private property. So, we could-"

"Really?" She smiled. His hands caressed her face as the officer pulled her in for a soft, seductive kiss. Leaving her wanting more. "Let's go!"

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"Yes, I was referred to you guys for my wedding." Riley bit her nails as she paced the living room. "April 2 at 6:30. Mhm. I'll hold, no problem." She quickly got tripped up in the dogs. "What, y'all wanna go outside? Come on." The brunette waltzed to the back door. "Yes, i'm here. Oh YAY! Great, so how much would it be from 6:30 to 11:30, so 5 hours? Oh that's not bad, I was expecting a lot worse. Only $500 plus tax, so what would I have to do to book the date?"

Lucas rolled over and realized she wasn't in bed, he heard her voice coming from the living room and smiled. Surprised that even the sound of her voice made him happy. He stood up and sauntered into the living room and after sitting on the couch, gazed upon his bride to be.

"Okay, so you'll just e-mail me the paperwork, I fill it out, and mail it back to you with a check?" The brunette looked so beautiful with her hair in a braid and standing in his t-shirt that stopped an inch below her butt. The dancer still hadn't noticed anyone behind her, "alright easy enough. It's for the Friar Matthews Wedding. Thank you so much, you have a wonderful day I hope you aren't too swamped it being a Saturday." She giggled, "thanks again. Mhm bye bye."

"You're up awful earlier." Her feet lifted off the hardwood from fright.

"Jeez and rice Luke. Announce yourself." She demanded.

"But then I couldn't just stare and notice how sexy you look in my t-shirt." Riley's arms fell to her side and the collar of the shirt revealed her collarbone. "Come here." The brunette stradled him and kissed his lips, "who were you on the phone with?"

"DJ, that's probably the cheapest thing so far." Her lips touched his nose. "You said one thing a day and that was my one thing."

"So you're mine all day?" She slowly nodded with a happy smile, feeling goosebumps overwhelm her body. "What on earth are we going to do all day?" His hands moved up her shirt, making her laugh.

"I figured at some point today we could go on a date, like we've been meaning to for the past few days." Lucas kissed her and grinned, "Deadpool?"

"You know, it's supposed to be around 60 tonight we could go to a drive in. Take my truck, we'll sit in the bed and snuggle up with a blanket."

Her dainty hand held her heart, "that's probably the cutest thing i've ever heard." Riley snaked her arms around his neck and kissed him, he stood up and pulled her in closer to his chest, planning on taking her to the bedroom when his phone rang.

"Dang it." He sighed, "i'll get it later."

"Yeah." They started kissing again.

"Shoot, let me check it baby. Hold on." The brunette's toes touched the ground and he jogged to the kitchen to grab it.

This is Lucas.  
 _Hey Lucas, this is Whitney.  
_ Hey Whitney, how are you?  
 _Pretty great, I received a counteroffer.  
_ Okay, whatcha got?  
 _$281 plus closing costs, and once the house is inspected they can take care of anything that isn't up to code.  
_ That's not bad. I was expecting a no.  
 _Yeah, me too. You're a very smart man.  
_ Thank you. Hold on one second.

He placed the phone on mute and glanced at his fiancee. "You want the house baby?"

"What's the counteroffer?"

"That wasn't my question." A small smile approached his lips. "Do you want the house?"

"I want you." Her lips found his neck, "I want what you want."

Hey Whitney you still there?  
Riley continued to kiss all over his body. _Yes.  
_ We accept the offer.  
 _Great, I will let them know.  
_ Wonderful, let me know a closing date. Riley-  
 _I'm sorry did I call at a bad time?  
_ No, you're fine. Let me know a closing date and i'll pick an inspector, once I do they can choose the date. Whatever is most convenient for them. Baby-  
The brunette giggled and continued to move down his body. _I'm going to let you go.  
_ Thank you.

"Get up here." He lifted her off the ground, "let's go celebrate."

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"What snacks do you want?" Lucas threw on his shirt and slid on his boots.

"Um, gummy worms and you know how you can get those bags of popcorn down the chip aisle. One of those please! I'm not paying for snacks there." He kissed her hed.

"I'll be back soon, love you."

"I love you too." Riley flew back on the couch and turned up Pitch Perfect. Hoss was about to hop in her lap, until he started barking at the knock on her door. "Hoss, knock it off." The front entrance opened and her brown eyes gazed upon Missy.

"Hi Riley." Within seconds Missy released a screech and clutching her face, feeling the sting of Riley's open hand.

"Get the hell out of here."

"That's assault."

"No, you're on my property and I distinctly remember asking you to leave before I slapped you. You were stupid enough to come here, i'm hoping you're smart enough to leave. Next time you won't be able to model for awhile." The dancer's voice was deep, her stare intense. "Leave!"

"Your property? That's cute, your name isn't on the lease." The model removed her hand and there was a very evident red handprint.

"You could make that look work for you, and it'll give me a reason to slap you around a little bit." Missy glared, "you have till the count of 10 to leave or we're going into an all out brawl. 10. . 9. ."

"I've come to see Lucas."

"Darn, you just missed him. I'll tell him to give you a call though. 5. . 4. ." Riley continued to count hoping and praying she would stay.

"You can give him this." Her hands held an envelope.

"3. . 2. ." Missy dropped the letter and ran towards her car. "Damn." Her chestnut eyes fell to the concrete entryway and the envelope laying on it. After picking it up, she was reminded to check the mail. With Coal by her side they trotted out to the mailbox and there was only one envelope. "We're popular." There was no return address, which she found kind of odd. "Come on boy. Let's go inside." She decided to wait till Lucas got home to open Missy's letter, just for fun and luckily she didn't have to wait too long.

"Hey sweetheart." His green eyes glanced at his fiancee who had a mischevious grin. "What?"

"We had a visitor."

"Who? Was it our neighbor? He's been bugging me to fix that fence post." The brunette shook her head.

"Nope, Missy." His eyes closed and he slowly inhaled.

"What'd she want? And why do you look so happy?" Lucas joked and sat down beside her.

"She dropped off a letter, and because I slapped her."

The officer lightly laughed, and sighed. "Oh baby, what am I going to do with you?" The dancer quickly shrugged her shoulders. "What'd the letter say?"

"I don't know. I was waiting on you to read it, it's a crime to open someone else's mail." His green eyes rolled and snatched the envelope off the coffee table. "No the other one, that one was in our mailbox." His hands moved to quickly switch the envelopes.

"Alright crazy ex girlfriend. What you got?" He tore it open and started laughing, "throw this crap away. Please."

She started to smile before pulling the envelope away, "what is it?"

"Inappropriate pictures. Toss them for me, and i'll open this one." He kissed her lips and grabbed the other letter. He heard Riley start laughing.

"She's hot, i'll admit it." Her brown eyes glanced at him and saw the angry look across his face. "What's wrong?" He didn't say anything but she heard his heavy breathing. "Lucas, what's wrong?"

"What time is it?" Riley swore his eyes were about to burn a hole into the paper.

"2:12, why? What's going on? What was the letter?"

"I'm going to take a little trip." He stood up and snatched his keys off of the table. "I'll be back."

"NO!" The brunette moved in front of him, "what is going on? Who was the letter from? What'd it say?"

His hands cupped her face. "Sweetheart, do you trust me?" The dancer furrowed her brows and agreed. "Then please believe i'm not telling you for a reason. I have something I have to do, and i'll be back later tonight." Lucas kissed his fiancee and moved for the door. The brunette stood at the front door while he sauntered to his truck.

"What about our date?" Tingles erupted through her body.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. That's a promise."

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"Hi, how can I help you sir?" Lucas took a few steps forward.

"Hello, i'm Officer Friar. Is Dr. Knicks available?" The officer laid his arms across the check in desk.

"I believe so. Give me one second, i'll call his office." He fidgeted with the letter in his hands and sauntered around the foyer. "Officer, he's on his way up. You caught him just in time, he was fixing to leave."

"Yeah, i'm sorry. I know it's a Saturday but this is extremely urg-"

"Officer Friar, how are you?" A short bald man interrupted him and reached out for Lucas. "What can I do for you?"

"Not so great Dr. Knicks, my fiancee got a little something. I was wondering if I could talk to you about it in private?" He nodded.

"My office, right this way." Within minutes Lucas shut the door and laid the letter out on the desk. "What's this?"

"This is a letter from Charlie to my fiancee, Riley. The woman your patient sexually assaulted, physically assaulted and tried to kill." The doctor glanced at the letter, hastily reading it. "WHY IN THE HELL, is he allowed to send letters out? Especially to my wife?" Lucas' fingers grasped the desk, his knuckles turning white from anger.

"Please Lucas, take a seat."

"I prefer to stand."

"Officer Friar, I don't know what happened. There have been no items sent out under his name."

"It got to us somehow doc. You better thank God it took 2 hours to get here, or I would be beating his ass to a pulp right now." Doctor Knicks rose from his seat.

"I can assure you that I had no knowledge of this letter going out. Now please sit down." The green eyed man inhaled deeply and took a seat. "The patient is mentally ill as this letter should make it very evident. Just because he's mentally ill doesn't mean he loses all of his rights, he's not in prison."

"That's where he should've been all along." Lucas rose from his seat again, "Dr. Knicks i'm aware that this isn't your fault but if she had seen this-" He cut himself off, picturing her face was enough to upset him. "Let me make something clear doctor, next time I get a letter i'm coming to see him. Not you."

"Lucas, I know you're angry but you can't talk that way in here. I know you're a reasonable, nice man we've talked several times."

The officer nodded and clicked his tongue, "i'm tired of being nice when it comes to her safety. It has gotten me nowhere. I will do what I have to do to keep my wife safe." Dr. Knicks gulped from the intensity in his voice. "I'm sure you can understand what i'm getting at. What that means." His jaw clenched.

"I do. I will do everything in my power to prevent this from happening again Officer Friar. I'm sorry." The green eyed man straightened up and moved for the door.

"You can keep that shit, I don't want it around her." His office door slammed shut and Lucas was still fuming. He knew he couldn't go home right away, even though he still had a 2 hour drive he knew it wouldn't be long enough. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw all the missed calls from Riley and 2 from Josh. "She must have talked to Maya."

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It was 10 o'clock before Lucas made it back and yet again their date fell through. He had bought her some flowers to make up for it but, knew she would be more upset about him randomly leaving than anything else. He unlocked the door and she was asleep on the couch. Riley was fully dressed, she must've been waiting for him to come home, which made him feel even worse. His emerald eyes moved towards the table and saw some blankets folded and a bag of snacks laying on top. The brunette had her phone laying right beside her face, apparently waiting on a phone call. Lucas sauntered towards the couch and kneeled down in front of her, slowly stroking her hair. "Hey beautiful."

The dancer inhaled deeply but didn't open her eyes. He laid the flowers on the table and carefully lifted her off the couch to move down the hall to their room. He took off her booties he'd gotten her the day he told Riley he loved her. After tossing those aside he covered her up with the comforter. His mind was running 90 miles to nothing and he was still trying to figure out what to tell her. Lucas changed into basketball shorts, and crawled beside her, his lips found her head. "I love you."

Riley laid with her back facing him, she was awake, she heard him but didn't want to argue tonight. He was home and that's all that really mattered.

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	9. Chapter 9-Tingles

**Chapter 9**

Lucas woke up the next morning and like every morning, rolled over to hold her but she wasn't there. He sat up, knowing he needed to explain himself and sauntered around the house looking for her. The dogs were outside and there was evidence indicating that she got ready to go somewhere, like the curling iron that she left on, again. There was a note laying on the table he had missed earlier.

 _Went to church. Needed a little Jesus, love you._

"Why didn't she wake me?" His eyes moved towards the clock, "it ends in 20 minutes. Damn it." His phone started to ring.

Hey Josh.  
 _What the hell happened last night?  
_ Keep this between me and you?  
 _Of course.  
_ Charlie sent her a letter. I went to go see Dr. Knicks.  
 _Oh.  
_ Yeah, what'd she tell you?  
 _She said you would try to make it back in time for y'alls date but didn't know what was going on. When 9 o'clock came around Maya told her to just change and relax but she hoped you'd be back and y'all could do something.  
_ That makes me feel like a piece of crap.  
 _I get it, you didn't want to tell her but maybe a phone call to let her know you're alright wouldn't have killed you.  
_ I was mad. I didn't want to take it out on her.  
 _I'm not here to argue with you. Maya went to church with her this morning.  
_ She's pretty pissed at me. Isn't she?  
 _I'd say more like confused. What was in that letter?  
_ I let Dr. Knicks keep it but, all the things he wants to do to her. How they'll be together and a few other explicit things.  
 _I almost wish I wasn't a cop and i'd be okay with murdering someone.  
_ Join the club. Uh, did Maya pick her up?  
 _Yeah.  
_ Alright, i'm gonna pick her up at church. Later man.

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"That is definitely what I needed." Riley exclaimed.

"Good peaches. I'm glad, what are you doing the rest of the day?"

"Probably nothing. Maybe a date, if he tells me what happened. We've been trying for 4 days now and our plans keep falling through." The brunette explained.

"Don't let him get off the hook easily. You fell asleep fully clothed last night." The girls giggled.

"It made it a lot easier to get ready this morning though." Her brown eyes pulled away from her feet and saw his truck parked out front. Lucas was standing by the passenger door with another bouquet of flowers. "When he does crap like that," she gestured towards him, "how can I not let him off the hook easily?"

"He's a man in trouble, and Luke knows that." The blonde gave her a hug, "i'll see you later. Give me the gossip when you get a chance." They both stepped outside and the officer stood up straighter with an adorable smile. He rolled the sleeves of his plaid button up and the black shirt underneath made him even yummier, it went well with his skin tone.

"Hi beautiful." Lucas kissed his fiancee and passed her the flowers.

"Hi. What are you doing here?"

"Well, when I didn't wake up in time to meet you here, I thought i'd pick you up and take you out to breakfast." Her stomach tightened, "and I really want to apologize about last night."

"Let's get to where we're going and we'll discuss it. Deal?" He nodded and kissed her again before opening the passenger door.

They were silent for a few minutes, while heading to their favorite breakfast place, Cracker Barrell. "You look beautiful."

Her lips curved upwards and played with the dress she put on last night. "Thank you, it's my outfit from last night."

The officer exhaled, "yeah, I know. My heart broke a little seeing you on the couch like that. With all of the stuff we would need gathered together." He pulled into a parking spot and grabbed her hand, "i'm really sorry."

"This is probably a silly question, but did you go see Missy last night?" Tingles exploded throughout her body while she fidgeted with her fingers.

"Are you crazy?"

The dancer lazily shrugged. "Maybe, we just got those pictures and you left after you saw them. I don't know."

"I didn't go see Missy sweetheart." Lucas stepped out of his truck and opened her passenger door. He held her hand tight while they meandered towards the restaurant.

"This is the part where you tell me where you went."

"I can't tell you sweetheart." She was already stressed out about everything else, if she knew about the letter she'd have a mental breakdown.

"You were gone for what? 8 hours? And you can't tell me where you went?" His gaze continued to hold onto his feet. "Well, why didn't you come back for our date?" The officer seperated his lips to respond but nothing came out, "or answer my calls? Or even call me back? I would have been okay with a text."

"Baby I can't-"

"Can you take me home please?" Her hand fell out of his and she slowly walked back to the truck. Lucas hated seeing her this way, he hated not being able to tell her. But it was what was best for her. The drive home was silent, at least she let him hold her hand. Lucas held the keys in his hand, about to open the door when he turned around and kissed her. A small smile approached her lips, and her eyes brightened.

"I love you Riley."

"I love you too." They stepped inside and he locked the door behind him. The principal stopped herself from walking down the hallway and turned on her heels to look at him. "Why can't you tell me anything?"

The jade eyed man sat on the couch, he laid his forearms on his knees. "It's what is best, especially because you're so stressed out right now. It's what is best for you baby."

"Lucas i'm a grown woman, I can decide what is and what isn't best for me to know."

"Sweetheart please try to understand. You know I love you and that i'm not telling you something for a good reason." His beautiful eyes were pleading with her.

"I don't think you get that I can handle whatever it is you're hiding. I've been through a lot-"

He interrupted, "exactly, you've been through a lot. You've been through too much and yesterday isn't something that will happen again."

"You really aren't going to tell me?" The brunette whispered, and the brightness in her eyes dulled when he moved his head from left to right. Another round of tingles erupted, was she just feeling sorry for herself? Or did she have a genuine reason to be upset. "I never really thought you'd hide anything from me." He stayed silent and felt a wave of guilt rush over him, the dancer gave a sympathy smile and walked into their bedroom.

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"Hey beautiful." Lucas' head peeked through the bedroom door. "What are you doing?"

Riley pushed the laptop away, "filling out the paperwork for the DJ."

The dogs knocked the door open and the officer joined her on the bed. "You still plan on marrying me?"

Her head snaked to the left, "of course I do."

"But you're still mad at me?" He yanked her into his arms and kissed her cheek.

"I'm not mad at you. I just don't understand why you can't tell me. Obviously it's about Charlie." The officer's forehead touched her temple.

"How'd you know that?"

"That's the only person you'd try to protect me from, to the point of not being honest with me." His lips touched her shoulder.

"I'd protect you from anything." The dancer rolled over to face him and placed her hand on his cheek.

"I know that," she mumbled, "I also know that for whatever reason you don't want to tell me what's going on. And i'm going to trust that it is for a good reason, because quite frankly I don't want to deal with anymore Charlie nonsense." The green eyed man moved some hair out of her face and kissed her. Her body trembled, those soft slow kisses was something that she lived for.

"Thank you." He whispered.

"You're welcome." They gazed into eachother's eyes, continuing to communicate in their own way when both dogs jumped on the bed. "So much for that sweet moment."

"Let's go have one of our own. You and me, we're going on a date and we need to be there at 6:21." She furrowed her brows. "There's no getting out of it." He kissed her cheek, "no more slapping exes," he kissed her nose. "No looking at houses," he kissed her forehead, "and no dogs." Riley giggled and they touched lips.

"It's a date."

"Good because it's already 5:30." Lucas' hands grazed her sides.

"Already?"

"Yeah, you hid out from me for 5 hours and 22 minutes." Her eyes rolled, "yes I counted and yes I missed you."

"You're too much." The dogs started to lick their faces.

"Hoss, Coal get down!" Both labs glanced at Riley after Lucas made his demand.

"Down!" She exclaimed and they followed her word.

"WHY?" The officer flew back on the pillow and started laughing.

"You just don't have your dad voice yet." Riley rolled off the bed and started touching up her hair for whatever it was he had planned. "You'll get it with time though."

"I'll get it once we have kids, maybe. I might just want to play with them all the time."

The principal started laughing, "so mom gets to be the bad guy. I appreciate that." His arms wrapped around her waist and he stared at her reflection in the mirror. "You'll be a great daddy."

"You'll be a wonderful mommy."

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"He took you on a sunset paddle boat ride on Lady Bird Lake?" Riley giggled as she nodded. "You two make me sick." Maya stated.

"Oh come on you and Josh do romantic stuff." Riley stirred the spaghetti sauce and sauntered back into the living room.

"We barely pull ourselves out of the bedroom long enough." The brunette pretended to throw up, "kidding. Our idea of romance is staying home and watching movies ."

"We need a girls night sometime soon though. Or a double date."

The blonde peruzzed her mind, "i'm trying to think of something this weekend. I'll let you know, maybe we can go dancing!"

"FUN!" The principal exclaimed.

"So how is the lovely new superintendent?" The brunette lazily shrugged her shoulders. "Uh oh."

"No, it's nothing bad. He's just been meandering around the halls, talking to a few teachers. I'm just curious if Missy actually did talk to him. If so I may not be a principal for much longer, especially since I slapped her." Hoss gave her a kiss on the cheek, "I wish I would've punched her."

"Me too, but i'm happy for you either way." The blue eyed girl sat up, "try not to worry peaches. When do you find out if you pass his inspection?"

"End of the week. So I have four more, long days. I've banned Lucas and i'm banning you from coming up there." She bit her cheek, trying to hide the fact she was more worried than she was leading people to believe.

Maya cleared her throat, "okay, enough with the heavy. Wedding planning, how's that going?"

"Um, it's going. I need a florist, we need to get maid of honor dresses, and plan your shower. I need to find shoes, get Lucas' tux picked out, wine tasting which should be a lot of fun. I need to hire a bartender. Money flying out the window, see ya' later! The venue called and wants me to pick out one of the centerpieces they provide. A few other small things." Riley grinned, "what about you?"

"I've got more time than you so i'm not too stressed about it. Things will come together, what are you going to register for, for the shower?" The blonde questioned.

"I don't know. We have everything we need, probably just some new kitchen stuff." The brunette popped up off the couch when the front door opened. Lucas landed on top of her. "Hey baby."

"Hey beautiful." She stroked his hair, he must have had a long day because within minutes Josh bombarded their home and landed on top of Maya.

"Peaches, it seems as if our men have had a hard day." The dancer stated, both Josh and Lucas nodded their heads, causing the girls to giggle. "Why don't we get y'all some beer and make a plate of spaghetti?"

The girls were in the kitchen fixing plates for everyone and popping the tops on some beers, when Lucas' phone rang.

This is Lucas.  
 _Lucas, it's Whitney.  
_ Hey, did you get my e-mail about an inspector?  
 _Yes, I did and I sent the information over to the owners. They'll let me know when they've set a date for the inspection.  
_ Awesome, so what can I do for you?  
 _I need to talk to you. Do you mind meeting me at John's?  
_ John's Slices?  
 _Yeah.  
_ When?  
 _In like 30 minutes?  
_ I guess, is everything okay with the house?  
Yeah, _I'll meet you there!_

He hung up the phone and sighed heavily while sitting up off of the couch. "Here ya' go handsome." A plate landed on the table in front of him and Riley passed him a beer.

"Baby this looks amazing, but I have to go meet Whitney real quick."

"Oh okay, what for?" Riley felt tingles go up her body again, something that's been happening a lot lately.

"I'm not sure, she didn't say." Lucas stood up and ran to the back to change.

"Do you want me to come with you?" The dancer smiled, "Maya can hold down the fort till we get back."

He turned on his heels, "no, that's okay baby. You stay here, I will be back as soon as possible. I swear, I love your homemade spaghetti sauce. So i'm not eating there." Maya's blue eyes glanced at the exchange and moved her gaze towards Josh. The brunette divulged a fake smile and followed him to the back.

"Where are y'all going?"

"John's." He slid on his shirt and put on a pair of jeans before kissing her head.

"But everything's okay with the house?" The green eyed man nodded with a smile, "so then what could she be wanting to talk to you about?"

"I don't know, like I said she didn't say." The officer stopped for one second and saw the disappointed expression on her face. "I'll be back in 30 minutes to an hour tops. I love you." She heard the door slam and after regaining her composure she stepped back out into the living room.

"Everything okay?" Josh questioned.

"Um, yeah I hope so."

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Lucas stepped into John's and a reel of memories entered his mind. When he came to return her phone, where they shared their meat lovers, where he said I love you. "LUCAS!" The officer acknowledged her and jogged towards her table.

"Hey, what's up?" He questioned while taking a seat.

"Um, I wanted to talk to you." His green eyes widened, knowing that much already. "About my ex."

"Okay?" Clearly confused as to why this involved him.

"How would I go about getting a restraining order?"

"You'd come down to the precinct and fill out a few forms. One of the officers will deliver it so you won't have to." The officer crossed his hands on the table. "If he comes around you call the police and he'll be arrested."

"He's been coming around a lot and not leaving when I ask, so I just wasn't sure what needed to be done." Her eyes moved towards the table.

"Tell me about what's going on. It might help to talk about it, it helped Riley when she was having a similar issue."

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"Um y'all go ahead and go home. It's been like 2 hours, I don't know when he's coming back." Riley bit her lip and touched her phone hoping a message from him would pop up. Maya and Josh glanced at each other, but reluctantly left after a bit more coercing. The door locked behind them and she made him a plate and stuck his dinner with the left overs in the fridge. Her brown eyes moved towards the clock, "9 o'clock," she sauntered towards the back and changed clothes. Riley tried hard to stay awake but knowing she had early morning practice at 6:30 fell asleep.

"Hey beautiful." Lucas stroked her hair. Her chestnut eyes opened and glanced at the alarm clock.

"Hi, where were you?"

"I'm so sorry, I lost track of time."

Riley tried not to look or feel defeated, "you lost track of time with another woman for 3 hours?" Lucas' lips seperated, realizing now how bad it sounded, "I made you a plate, it's in the fridge." The brunette heard him gulp, "you already ate didn't you?"

"Riles i'm sorry. She was asking about restraining orders and talking to me about her ex boyfriend." The principal shook her head.

"Goodnight, I love you." She rolled over and closed her eyes.

"I love you beautiful." What did these damn tingles mean? They were happening all the time lately. Lucas crawled beside her and knew she was upset, she had every right to be. He said an hour tops, he went over by 2. He was with another woman and that was something that could have easily been done at a different time and to top it all off he didn't eat her spaghetti like he said he would. "Hey sweetheart?"

She must have fallen back asleep because there was no answer.

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They both woke up the next morning and got ready together but in silence, which was something new for them. Riley grabbed her bag and gave him a kiss. "See you tonight, love you." Lucas bit his lip and felt her leave the bathroom, he quickly followed after her.

"Riley." The brunette gulped and turned around.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry about last night. You know I love you right?"

"Yeah I know." They stood in an awkward silence, she felt like she was on the backburner and she'd never felt that way, not with him.

"You and me tonight, deal?"

"Sure."

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	10. Chapter 10- Let Him

**Chapter 10**

"Hey Josh." Lucas leaned on his partner's door frame.

"What's up Luke?"

"Are you mad at me too?" The officer took a seat.

"Lucas i'm not mad at you, you have made her so incredibly happy since you two have been together. But hearing the disappointment in her voice and seeing the way she reacts, it's frustrating." Josh stopped what he was doing, "twice in 2 days. I know the first time you left was specifically for her, but she was worried and you stood her up on y'alls date. Last night you go out to dinner with your realtor, but you aren't talking about houses. That sounds like a date."

"NO!" His green eyes widened, "it wasn't she was asking about restraining orders and what she should do about her ex."

"So something she could've done by calling the precinct, or coming up here and talking to you while you're working? Not while you're having dinner with your fiancee and future family." Lucas clenched his jaw. "You and me, we're cool."

"Clearly."

"We are. But from now on, set a timer on your phone. You seem to be having issues with keeping track of time."

The officer sighed, "Riley didn't see it as a date did she?"

"You ask her Luke. But, I doubt it, the date thing is what Maya said."

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"Hello Principal Matthews."

"Superintendent, hello. Please take a seat." Riley waited for him to sit before she did and a worried smile came across her face. "How can I help you?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I should have an answer for you by tomorrow."

The principal started to giggle, "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Either I was really good, or I was really bad."

"I just have a little more paperwork to go through." Her brown eyes found the desk, knowing that it was bad. "9 o'clock tomorrow morning? Would that work?"

"Sure, that'd be perfect. Thank you for coming in." Riley's office door shut and she slunk back into her chair. Missy wasn't bluffing it seemed.

 _Principal Matthews_

"Yes m'am?"

 _You have a phone call._

"Alright send it back." She was secretly hoping it was Lucas, she needed to hear his voice right now. No matter how frustrated she was with him.

This is Ms. Matthews.  
 _Hey it's me._ It was the second voice she needed to hear.  
Hey peaches.  
 _Are you okay?  
_ I'm fine. Superintendent just left, i'll find out tomorrow morning.  
 _Wow!  
_ Missy talked to him, there's no way he would've come to a conclusion so quickly. Unless he's just an extremely hardworker.  
 _What did Lucas say?  
_ I haven't talked to him, he literally just left.  
 _I mean about last night.  
_ Oh he lost track of time.  
 _That's a terrible excuse.  
_ Maya be easy on him. Please.  
 _I am! He was with another woman and not responding to your texts.  
_ She had some questions about a restraining order.  
 _Riley i'm only-  
_ Maya, I love you but what's between Lucas and I is between Lucas and I.  
 _Okay, I respect that.  
_ Thank you. I'll talk to you later.

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"Hi beautiful." Riley shut the door and smiled.

"What are you doing here so early?"

He set down his tray of food he was going to grill and sauntered towards the front door. "I left early so I could cook for you. To try and make up for last night." The brunette hung up her keys and took a seat at the barstool.

"Things happen babe."

"Those things, they shouldn't happen." Lucas picked her up and sat her on his lap. "I shouldn't ever lose track of time with a woman, unless it's you or my mom. From now on, my phone stays on loud or you're coming with me. I'm sick of coming home and you being asleep, i'm sick of you feeling disappointed, and I hate seeing your gorgeous face looking so sad." The brunette fidgeted with her fingers and tried to hide her smile. "Awe, are you trying to stay mad at me?"

"Yes." She whispered, his fingers touched her chin and manuevered her face to look at him.

"I love you baby and I don't want you to think that anyone or anything could come between us. Remember what I told you when I picked you up at Maya's after we got into our first fight?" The principal nodded. "What'd I say?"

"You and me are long haul."

"Damn right we are." Riley giggled and kissed him. "I missed you. I don't like how things were this morning."

"Me neither." Her forehead gently landed on his, "so the superintendent will have an answer for me tomorrow."

"Good answer or bad answer?" The officer tucked some hair behind her ear.

"I don't know, i'm thinking bad. Unless he's just incredibly hardworking that he went through over a years worth of paperwork and records within a few days. Depending on what reason he gives me depends on if I fight it or not."

Lucas scoffed, "you deserve this job. You work hard and there's no reason why you shouldn't have it."

"Missy is reason enough for him."

"Speaking of, I had a question for you and I probably already know the answer but how would you feel about getting a restraining order on her?"

"Not great." The green eyed man laughed and nodded, already expecting that answer. "How else will I knock her out when the time is right?"

"Let's go outside so I can start grilling and we'll discuss this." The green eyed man grabbed the pan full of steak with vegetables and she followed him outside. "Alright so here's the deal baby you can't just smack people around."

"Not people, Missy."

He lifted the top of the grill off and laid the steaks down, "is that what you plan on doing if you don't get to be principal anymore?"

"I'll be fine if i'm not principal anymore." Lies. "If i'm lucky I can continue coaching the drill team. It'll just be an extremely short day. Like my 6:30 practice till 10." Lucas bit his cheek.

"Maybe it won't be too bad if you didn't have to work."

She started giggling and followed him back inside. "Are you asking me to be a stay at home wife?"

"You can absolutely."

Riley sauntered into their bedroom and started changing clothes. "I love my job, besides what would I do all day anyways?"

"Well when we have kids, you could stay at home with them?" He loved the idea of her being home all day with their children. His adorable smile made it very apparent.

The dancer pretended to ponder on it for a moment, "so you want me to stay home while you work a dangerous job?"

"What are you trying to say?" The brunette started walking towards the front door.

"I'll make you a deal. If you move departments, or go to a less dangerous job then I will stay at home." Her feet touched the dead grass.

"Where are you going?" The officer laid his head on the frame of the entryway.

"Checking the mail." His green eyes widened when she opened the box, he was thanking God she didn't look at anything yet, terrified that there might be another letter. "Back on subject though. What will you do when we have kids?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I want to be their hero, so why couldn't I keep being a cop?"

Riley sat on the couch, "I never said you couldn't. I'm just saying everyday in the back of my mind, i'm worried i'm going to get a phone call that something has happened to you. If we have kids, how would you want me to explain to them that their daddy may not be coming home?" His gaze moved towards the carpet, "you're my hero, you'll be theirs whether you're a police officer or not. Please don't think i'm trying to talk you out of something you love to do, but I can't say I haven't thought about it. You've given me everything, and I wouldn't ever ask you to give up anything."

"I didn't know you were so worried about me beautiful."

"I'm in love with you. How could I not be worried? Hell you've still got a cut on your face from the other day."

Lucas sighed heavily, "I love you too baby and I will absolutely take what you're saying into consideration. Because I want to grow old with you, and watch our kids grow up and every day I wake up to go to work I can't guarantee i'll come home." He kissed her forehead and nonchallantly grabbed the mail from her. Smooth Friar super smooth.

"Oh I got it baby, since you're grilling i'll go through it." Her smile was gentle, and almost convincing.

"Sweetheart, i've got it. You relax." He moved to pull it back towards his chest.

She furrowed her brows, "why don't you want me to see the mail?"

"Huh?" Her eyebrows touched her hairline. "What do you mean? I'm just trying to be polite and be sweet to my girl since I have been a total ass the past two days."

"Besides the sunset paddle boat ride. Loved that." Her soft hands released from the pile of envelopes and campaign endorsements. Lucas quietly let out a small wave of relief and put them under some paperwork, making a mental note to come look at the mail later.

"How are you feeling? About tomorrow?" The brunette lazily shrugged her shoulders.

"Um, I don't know. I have convinced myself so much that I won't have this job i'll be shocked if I do." The dancer leaned against the arm rest and rolled backwards. "I mean if I really wanted I could apply to a different school district it would just be a drive. It's just-"

"Your team." Lucas smiled.

"Yeah, my team. I don't want to leave them unless I genuinely have to."

He cleared his throat, he had been meaning to talk to her about this for awhile, since he found out that Charlie was going to be admitted into a mental institution. Knowing eventually he'd be free to roam about. He knew where she worked, knew her hours, her schedule. "Maybe you should go ahead and apply to a different school district."

The principal tightened her abs and sat up straight. "What?"

Lucas scratched the back of his neck and sat beside her. "Sweetheart, we both know that Charlie is going to be roaming free eventually. And he knows where-"

"I work." She interrupted and glanced at her twidling thumbs. "My schedule." Riley scoffed, "hell he knows where I go to church."

"Technically he won't be able to go around you, but we both know how much he minds rules and more importantly laws." Her temple landed on his muscular shoulder and she started to get mad. Why? Why should she have to uproot her entire life because of him? Why does she have to change where she lives, works, goes to church? How was any of this fair?

"Freaking let him." Riley stood up and sauntered towards the refridgerator.

"What?" Lucas was right on her heels and one glance in her direction he knew she was pissed. She had always handled things with Charlie so well, he assumed things like this would happen eventually.

"Let him come around. I'll carry and give him two in the chest." She took a swig of her beer, "and one more for good measure. What I should've done back in September but I didn't because I was to much of an idiot to not bring my gun inside."

"You aren't an idiot-"

"YES! I am!" The brunette exclaimed, "you told me Lucas, you told me to bring my gun and buzzer. I shrugged it off, thinking I had my buzzer i'll be fine and I wouldn't be here right now if he was dead." His green eyes touched the floor, she probably wouldn't. They probably wouldn't be engaged, she definitely wouldn't be living here, hell he may still have been with Missy. "WHY? Why do I have to change my entire effing life, my church, my job, my home. All of it, because of him, because I didn't kill him when I had the chance."

"Riley-"

She ignored him and kept going, "I didn't even move for the shotgun in my closet. I froze like a little child with wide eyes, I froze. I could've beaten him to it too, I could've even kept fighting once he was down, I could've kept going just to keep him off of me. I wouldn't be here in this situation if it weren't-"

"RILEY!" Her narrowed brown eyes widened. "Please listen for 5 seconds, the fact of the matter is, it did happen. You got hurt, and he is still dangerous. I told you I will kill him if necessary," Lucas clenched his jaw which made him even sexier. "Yes you have to move some stuff around to keep yourself safe, I think it's worth it. Call me crazy, but it is." The officer's arm fell to his side. "You keep saying that you wouldn't be in this situation and you're absolutely right. You and I probably wouldn't be engaged right now." The dancer gulped and moved her eyes towards the tile. "Because I wouldn't have had to take you to the hospital, and that's when I realized I couldn't live without you. When you were having surgery, and I wasn't sure if you'd wake up and remember me, I knew who I was supposed to be with. I knew it was you who I wanted. Who knows if I would've had the balls to break up with Missy if this situation hadn't had happened."

Riley didn't know what to say to that, maybe he was right. Maybe, just maybe they wouldn't be together. The only word she could get out was, "oh."

"Yeah, oh." A comfortable silence fell over them, "besides I would never want you to have to live with the guilt of killing someone. No matter who it is, no matter the circumstances you don't ever want to know you took someone away from their family." This conversation took a hard right to serious and fast, the green eyed man knew he had to lighten the mood. "Believe me boy you don't ever wanna know."

Riley started to giggle, "Tombstone."

"Yeah, Tombstone." She ran into his arms.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay beautiful girl." His lips touched the top of her forehead, "I will handle Charlie if the situation ever arises. I'm not going to let you do that."

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	11. Chapter 11-Consuming

**Chapter 11**

The superintendent left her office and Riley placed her chin in the palm of her hand. She glanced at the clock and sauntered back down towards the dance room. The heavy arena doors opened and the brunette walked to the center of the gym. "Ladies, let's huddle up." Her fists landed in her hoodie pocket that was covering up her tanktop. "Take a seat." The girls gathered quietly and circled around her, it was then she decided to join them. "I don't really know how to tell you this, so i'm going to just tell you outright. All of you know i've been extremely stressed lately and it is because I was being evaluated by the new superintendent. Friday is my last day." All the girls gasped and started yelling no. "Ladies please listen." She wiped a tear away, and exhaled, puffing out her cheeks in the process. "I'm not going to be the drill team director, and I won't be the principal anymore-" The dancer stopped herself from talking and cleared her throat, "I don't know who he has to replace me as y'alls director, but please for my sake be the well behaved women that I know you are."

"He can't do this! You're the best principal and coach we've ever had!"

"I'm so sorry y'all. I'm sorry that this happened and i'm really going to-" Riley's voice cracked, "sorry. I'm really going to miss you all." She opened her arms and all 22 girls tackled her, they were all crying and she had never heard the word 'no' more than she had then. "We still have a few more days, we're still in competition mode and I will come watch y'all perform."

"Ms. Matthews, this isn't okay. Everyone loves you. There has to be a way to fight this." The captain demanded.

"I love you guys, all of you." The dismissal bell rang, "i'll send an e-mail to your teachers. Y'all go and get ready for class." The crying team left her alone in the arena, her brown eyes peruzzed the gym. The place where she had spent a good portion of her life, with those girls. Every pep rally, all of their 2 a day practices, 2 weeks in summer camp, she couldn't believe it was all going to be gone. The brunette dropped her head and sobbed.

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Riley was on beer number 4 by the time Lucas got home. She heard the front door unlock and she wiped her eyes. "Hey beaut-" The officer dropped his shoulders, "oh no."

The brunette sniffled and felt the waterworks coming, "Friday is my last day. As a principal, and as a drill team director."

"Come here baby." He wrapped her up in a hug and she started balling. "I'm so sorry." His rough hands stroked her hair. "What was the reasoning, what did he say?"

She took a swig of beer and stared off into space, "first we're out of beer. Second, we know the real reason but he said even though test scores have risen, and the interviews went well, he didn't see me as a principal. He felt that there were other people better suited for the position, ones with administrative degrees."

"Wait, so what does that have to do with drill team? Why did he fire you as a director?" She lazily shrugged her shoulders and started crying again.

"You should've seen their faces. I've known some of these girls for four years and I don't even get to finish the season." His thumb wiped some tears away. "It broke my heart. They were my second family." Lucas' sadness turned to anger, he snatched his keys off of the table. "Where are you going?"

"My phone's on loud, i'm going to go have a conversation."

Lucas hurriedly sped towards Missy's place, fuming and trying to remain as calm as possible. He was in uniform after all. The officer rang the doorbell and took a few steps back. The door opened but just slightly, "hey handsome. I thought we'd be seeing each other today."

"Missy, we need to talk. Can you step outside?"

"Oo, officer Lucas. Why don't you come inside?" He placed his hands behind his back and clenched his jaw. She opened the door all the way and revealed herself to be in lingerie.

"Next time you try to get involved in Riley's life I will bring you in for extortion. We're going to fight this, and I guarandamntee we will win."

Missy cocked her head to the side and bit her lip, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"She didn't dump me and since you're sleeping with the superintendent you got him to somehow fire Riley. That's not ringing any bells? Nothing coming to mind?" She shrugged her shoulders and the silk robe slid off. "I know about the threat Missy, I know you blackmailed her and extortion isn't just about money."

Missy slid her robe back on and tied it tight. "Come inside, please. We can talk."

"No, i'm not coming inside. So you can pounce on me as soon as that door closes, no thank you. Admit it, admit that you did that to Riley." Her eyebrow rose, "it wasn't her fault Missy, it wasn't her fault that I loved her and not you. That's the way the world works sometimes and you have to get over it. It's been almost 6 months and she doesn't deserve this, Charlie doesn't deserve to know where she lives and she doesn't deserve for her to lose her job."

"I'm done with this conversation."

"ADMIT IT!" Lucas turned around when he heard a car door close. "Look at that, hello superintendent how are you?"

"Missy who is this?" The officer put his hand out and shook it.

"Riley Matthews' fiancee. I was just talking to Missy about how she blackmailed Riley. About how you fired her today because my ex girlfriend said for Riley to pick me, or her job."

"Excuse me-" The superintendent was quickly interrupted.

"Yeah excuse you," His face was turning a light shade of red, "she loves her job and she's damn good at it and you know it! YOU KNOW IT!"

"I think it's time for you to leave officer."

He scoffed, "that's funny because just a few moments ago your girlfriend invited me in and showed off her red lingerie. Go ahead Missy show him what color lingerie you're wearing, prove me wrong." Lucas took a step forward and stared into his eyes, "I recommend you think long and hard about your decision to let Riley go, because if you don't we'll go to the papers, the news. Even the slightest speculation will ruin your reputation before your career has even begun."

"It's her word against mine."

The jade eyed man scoffed, "your right a stranger against a woman who grew up here. A woman who has worked at that school for 6 years as a drill team director and principal, and touched SO many people's lives. Yeah, I hope it's her word against yours. I'm counting on it."

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Riley wiped a tear away and snuggled with Coal since Hoss had become a daddy's boy as of late, he waited by the front door for Lucas to come home. Lucas unlocked the door and had beer in one hand and a meat lovers pizza from John's in the other. "OH MY GOD! I LOVE YOU!"

He chuckled lightly, "I figured that you needed this." She stood up and gave him a hug.

"Thank you." The brunette's lips touched his cheek and she swiped a beer. "Where'd you go?"

"Had a conversation with Missy and the superintendent."

"WHAT?" The dancer almost spewed beer everywhere. "Why did you do that?"

He flipped the pizza box open, "because we're going to fight this. When is the next school board meeting?"

"Lucas you said so yourself that I should probably find a new job because of Charlie."

"Yeah, I did. But not if you truly love this one. You love those girls Riley and you don't deserve this. You have had enough shit to last you a life time." The brunette picked a piece of pepperoni and ate it. "I'm serious, do you wanna fight this?"

The dancer took a sip and sighed, "yeah. I just, I have no evidence to suppport my stay."

"Yes you do, parents, students and teachers. They love you," he knelt down in front her and caressed her cheek, "let them do the talking."

"So what, I go up and ask if they'll help fight the decision so I can keep my job? That's desperate."

Lucas shook his head, "you're too damn prideful, isn't that a sin?" Her chin dropped to her chest, "just send out a mass e-mail, tell your girls what you plan to do and see who shows up. You may be pleasantly surprised."

"Can I just drink and eat pizza tonight? And take you into the shower later?" Riley moved to take a sip but his lips on hers stopped her.

"Yes but one last question. When is the next school board meeting?"

"Um, 2 weeks from tomorrow." His fingers started to unbutton his shirt.

"Will you ask people for help?" The brunette bit her lip, and saw he was buttoning his shirt again since she hadn't answered.

"FINE! Fine, i'll do it." Lucas smiled and carried her into the bathroom.

"Pizza and beer later, shower now!"

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Riley finished packing her office in the dance room and glanced at the clock. "8, they should be done with their workout by now." It was her last day, and she had already teared up several times, she had to get away for a few minutes so she had the team do interval training. Before opening the door to the arena she inhaled deeply. "Alright-" The brunette closed her eyes and shook her head, not able to comprehend what was happening. The arena was full of students, with a sign that read 'we'll miss you'.

Alex, the captain of the team stepped forward, "Ms. Matthews on behalf of most of the senior class because some didn't wake up in time." Riley giggled and wiped away some tears, "on behalf of the senior class we want you to know how much we're gonna miss you. And how big of an impact you've made on all of us. You weren't just a dance coach and a principal you were our friend. You cared when other teachers didn't. We also want you to know that we're going to the school board meeting and we're going to get your job back."

The only thing Riley knew to do was open her arms, she was bombarded with hugs and 'we're gonna miss you'. "You are all amazing!" She still didn't notice her fiancee was recording the entire time.

"This is so going on the news." He joked to himself. He had no idea this was happening until yesterday when he got a phone call at the station. None of this was his idea, neither was sending this into the news, it was her teams. 30 minutes later all the students had gone to class and she dismissed the team to just hang out instead of practice. Her heels kicked the floor as she moved towards Alex.

"Thank you, for everything you've done for me this year." Riley gave her a hug, "i'm hoping I get my job back. But, if I don't please don't stop dancing. You're so amazing, okay?" The young girl sniffled and agreed. "Now get out of here." Lucas was amazed at the love the students had for her, he wasn't overestimating the other night. "So was this your idea?" Her eyes were red when she turned around, the officer could tell she was trying incredibly hard not to cry.

"No baby, this was your teams idea. And this video I took is getting sent in to the news."

She inhaled deeply and let out a shaky breath, "I don't know how I am going to leave here."

"Knowing you're going to come back should make it easier."

Riley glanced at the red and black chairs and decorations, not noticing Lucas pulling out his phone again. "I don't know that. I can hope. This place has been my life for so many years and even though I don't have to work, I want to because coming here and seeing these kids faces," She wiped her tears away and inhaled, "seeing these kids faces everyday, it makes me happy." Lucas ended the video and held his fiancee.

"We're going to make sure you get your job back. Don't worry that pretty little mind of yours, people throw rocks at things that shine."

"I'm taking that Taylor Swift CD and i'm chunking it out the window." She joked.

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"Thank you for going out with me tonight peaches." Maya spun her around.

"Well technically, we're out with our fiancees they're just over there." Riley grinned and started two stepping with her. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now, but it was incredibly hard leaving my girls." The brunette felt a pair of strong hands around her waist. "Hey handsome."

"Maya do you mind if I steal my gorgeous bride to be away?" The blonde was being spun off into Josh and giggling the entire way. "Guess not." He spun his fiancee around himself before pulling her into his chest.

"No offense to peaches, but you're a better dancer!"

"Well probably because neither one of you knows how to lead." She giggled when someone tapped Lucas on the shoulder.

"Hey man, mind if I cut in?"

"Yeah I do." His green eyes moved back towards her doe eyed brown ones. "Do I have to put an 'i'm taken' sign on your forehead.

The brunette laughed and divulged a beautiful smile, "I thought that's what my rock was for?"

"I need to get you a bigger one apparently."

Riley quickly disagreed, "I love my ring. It's your grandmother's diamond and you designed it, you aren't changing it."

"Which reminds me, i'll need to get that off your finger like a week before the wedding to get the wedding band soldered on and you'll get it back when we say I do." Her brows furrowed, "what?"

"No."

"No what?" He questioned and spun her around again.

"You aren't taking my ring stupid!"

"Awe honey," He sighed and looked up towards the ceiling, "those pet names melt my heart."

"I don't need a wedding band, this ring is gorgeous as is. Besides it's just more-"

"Money?" He questioned, "I thought we were done with that?"

Riley scoffed, "what made you think that?"

"You haven't brought it up in awhile. You're getting a wedding band, it's already designed and you'll love it. So yes I will have to take it, i'm sorry. It doesn't mean I don't love you." Lucas' phone started to ring.

Whitney?  
 _Hey, I haven't gotten the restraining order yet. Do you mind coming over and getting him to leave? He's just hanging around outside my house.  
_ Um, you can just call the non emergency line and they'll send someone.  
 _I don't want my neighbors to see sirens and police officers. Please?  
_ Sure, just text me the address.

Lucas hung up the phone and glanced at his fiancee. "Would you like to come with me?'

"Where?" Lucas clutched her hand and pulled her to the side of the dance floor.

"She's hasn't gotten the restraining order yet and her ex won't leave. He's waiting outside her house, making her feel uncomfortable." The brunette opened her lips to speak, "I told her to call non emergency but she doesn't want sirens and lights and cops."

"No, that's okay. I'll go take a cab." She sighed and gave him a kiss, "just be safe and come home soon. Tell her if she hits on you that i'll cut her."

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Lucas wished he had his taser, but since he was off duty all he had was his gun in the glove compartment. He pulled up to the house and saw a man, who was clearly drunk banging on her door. His shirt covered his weapon and he grabbed his badge. "Sir. Sir, this is Officer Friar Austin PD. I received a call about a disturbance, please turn around slowly."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

His green eyes rolled, "as previously stated, i'm Officer Friar Austin PD." He banged on the door again.

"YOU CALLED YOUR NEW BOYFRIEND? IS THAT WHAT YOU DID YOU LITTLE-"

"SIR! I'm going to have to ask you to leave, now!" The officer demanded and watched him move away, "there you go. You're aware that harrassment is a crime, correct?"

"I'm not harrassing!" He snapped and sat on the curb.

"Unfortunately that is exactly what this situation is, whether you realize it or not is the bigger issue. Do you have someone who can pick you up? You're a little too drunk to be driving."

"I'll be fine."

"I HIGHLY recommend that you call someone." Lucas reiterated.

"Go inside and see Whitney, you're Lucas right? Her new boyfriend?"

Lucas started laughing, "is that what you're so pissed about man?" Whitney's ex glanced at him, "I don't know what made her tell you that but i'm engaged to a woman named Riley. I have no interest in Whitney, it sounds like she was trying to make you jealous. But, i'm still going to have to ask you to leave. Especially because I would like to get back to my fiancee." He released the grip on his gun, realizing this guy was just crazy in love and not crazy. "Head home and i'd start by talking on the phone with her. Leave 1 voicemail and wait for her to call you."

Her ex rose up from the sidewalk and silently walked to his car. Lucas ensured that he drove away and knocked on Whitney's door. "THANK YOU!" She gave him a hug.

"Whitney, why did you tell him that you were dating me?"

The blonde gulped, "he's crazy."

"Whitney there's nothing going on between us, and there won't ever be. I'm engaged to the woman of my dreams." She opened her mouth to talk, "from now on we only talk if it is related to the house. If it weren't too late i'd switch realtors, get that restraining order if you need it. Have a nice night."

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Lucas unlocked his door and all the lights were off, "damn it." He locked the deadbolt. "Riley please don't be asleep." He sauntered to his bedroom and on the way smelt the familiar 'Winter Candy Apple' candle. A small grin approached his face as he leaned against the entryway of his room. There were several candles lit and Burnin' it Down by Jason Aldean was playing, the only song she felt comfortable listening to while making love. Riley smiled and let the silk robe slide off her body, revealing a black lace, and pleated baby doll lingerie dress.

 _Jammin' to some old Alabama with you baby  
Laying right here, naked in my bed.  
I'm just doin' my thing you love it when I sing  
Singing makes you feel like an angel.  
We're about to get tangled up. . ._

"Wow." He whispered and started unbuttoning his shirt.

 _Girl when you want it  
You know that i'm on it  
You know that I love lovin up on you  
Let's hit the switch and let our shadows dance._

"What?" She bit her lip, feeling silly wearing this outfit.

"You're so beautiful." Lucas gently laid her on the bed.

"I was trying to be sexy." He kissed her neck and slid his hand up her thigh.

"Anyone can be sexy baby," His fingers worked to move her spaghetti straps off her shoulders. "It's hard to be as beautiful as you, inside and out." His lips pressed against hers, that all consuming kiss that truly means something. They felt the electricity surging through their bodies, in their hearts and if it was possible in their souls. It's true what they say, when you find that one person, a kiss truly means everything. Lucas undeniably found his person, his mate, she was his world.

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 **Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.**


	12. Chapter 12-I Want Out

**Chapter 12**

Riley opened her eyes and rolled onto Lucas' chest, inching her body as close as possible to his. "Last night was incredible." he whispered, while hugging her tighter.

"That is extremely true. I mean it's always great whenever we do that but why was last night so-"

"Different?" He interrupted, "I don't know. After you fell asleep I tried to figure it out but couldn't put my finger on it." The brunette tapped her fingers on his chest.

"Hey, I never did ask you. What happened at Whitney's last night?"

He lifted his arm and rubbed his eyes. "He left quietly, no fuss and I made it clear to Whitney she needs to get that restraining order because we are only talking about the house from now on."

The dancer lifted herself off of him, "that wasn't nice baby."

"She told her ex that I was her boyfriend."

Riley's arms flew up in the air and she dropped back on the layer of pillows behind her. "I give up."

"On what?" The officer rolled on his side and pulled her towards him.

"On trying to keep women off of you. Apparently me being your fiancée means nothing to some people and I'm fixing to start snappin' necks!" The meadow eyed man laughed and kissed her cheek several times, "you're just too perfect."

"I'm not perfect." He whispered and continued to kiss her.

"Yes you are. You're handsome and funny, sweet, sexy, protective, and a cop! You're like catnip but for women. Did you have this problem with Missy? Women flocking all over you at all times?"

His lips pulled off of her cheek for a second. "No but I also went to work and came home. I didn't go out around women, not until you came around."

"It was me ordering that lonestar beer wasn't it? That's what did you in." Riley joked.

"Everything about you did me in! Your eyes, hair, body, smile everything about you was and is everything I wanted." As she rolled out of bed she felt his hand leave her thigh. "NO!"

"Awe don't be sad. I'm just going to check the mail, and take the dogs out! I'll be back." Within seconds she was gone and Lucas closed his eyes, not thinking anything of it. "Geez, when was the last time we checked this thing?" He heard the dog tags banging against each other and the brunette tossed the pile of mail on the bed, beginning to look through it. "Junk, junk, junk. This is why we hardly check the mail!"

Lucas grinned and opened his eyes, it's like he opened the doorway to his memory. "Riles why don't you hop in the shower. I'll finish going through this and join you in a few minutes." She leaned down and kissed him.

"Thanks baby." As soon as the shower curtain closed he dug through the pile quickly. "OH DON'T FORGET WE HAVE THE CAKE TESTING TODAY!"

"Okay sweetheart!" A lone envelope remained, there was no return address but there was also no stamp either. Was the last letter like that? Lucas tore it open and glanced at the words that would cut Riley to the core and diminish all progress she's made.

 _You owe me._

"RILES I'M GONNA MAKE A QUICK PHONE CALL!" He snatched his phone off the charger and trudged into the living room.

Dr. Knicks please. This is Officer Friar.  
 _This is he.  
_ Got another fucking letter doc.  
 _Oh Lord, what'd it say?  
_ You owe me. The same damn thing he told her while he raped her, and the same thing he left on her pillow when he broke into her house. I want these to stop, NOW!  
 _I don't understand how they're getting out. Nothing is being sent out under his name.  
_ It doesn't have a stamp, someone has to be sneaking them- has he had any visitors?  
 _Uh yes, that Bradford woman.  
_ I told you to bar her access! That's how these letters are getting here! Why haven't I gotten that update?  
 _What update?  
_ What update? I get e-mails daily on his recovery and you don't think to mention anything about the woman who I've asked you to prevent him from seeing, making random visits?  
 _Officer Friar, I apologize. I will get it taken care of immediately.  
_ I suggest you do that, since it already should've been done. I'll be checking in soon.

He hung up the phone and threw it across the living room. Why was this happening to her? They needed to get out of this house, the letters would stop then, and he wouldn't know where she lived when he got out. Maybe they shouldn't fight for her job back, no! No! She loves her job, loved her job. "LUCAS?"

His frown disappeared at the sound of her voice, "coming baby!"

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"Hey peaches." Maya kissed her cheek, "how did the cake testing go?"

Her smile brightened the room as she entered Josh's house, "great. I'm super excited about his groom cupcakes. They're going to have little police badges."

"Who cares about groom stuff?" The blonde fell onto the couch across from her. "What does your cake look like?"

Riley sat up straighter, "simple and elegant. It's 3 layers, each layer a different flavor and there will be purple calla lilies cascading down, it'll start from the top right and end on the bottom left."

"That sounds so pretty. So things are going smoothly with the wedding planning? No more money freak outs?"

The brown eyed girl giggled, "No. No more money freak outs, Lucas has been amazing in this whole process, when we do things together he makes me plug my ears." Maya laughed, "What are y'all doing tonight?"

"Hopefully hanging out with you two. Want to get in the hot tub?"

Within 20 minutes the best friends were drinking a beer and relaxing in the water. "Where is Lucas? Where's Josh?"

"I don't know actually, I know they went together. He was getting in the truck while I was sliding out." The brunette tousled her hair and took another sip, "he was acting weird all day. It could just be wedding jitters or I'm hoping that's what it is."

"Please," The blonde adjusted her top, "that man is crazy in love with you. I'm sure he'd run off and elope with you today if you asked him to."

The dancer giggled, "He would. He's said so several times, and quite frankly I wouldn't mind that but there's down payments on everything."

"You wouldn't mind getting eloped? Since when?"

Riley opened her eyes and smirked, "you know when we were little girls and we were planning the perfect wedding?"

"You were, yes."

"Right I was," she corrected, "I was planning the perfect wedding because I didn't have the perfect guy. Now I do, and that's all that really matters. Do I want the big dress and audience while I'm saying my vows, yes. But in the end I just want him."

"If I had a heart that would touch me." The brown eyed girl rolled her eyes and splashed her friend, "I'm really happy that you're happy."

The brunette took another swig, "what about you? How's the wedding planning going?"

"It's not really. We've considered going to Vegas."

"Of course you are. Just invite me, please! I know I've been busy with my wedding but I really want to be a part of yours. And if you decide to have a wedding, we'll full force blow it out when we get back. Especially since I may be jobless for a while, I'll need something to preoccupy my time."

"You're gonna get your job back peaches."

The brunette pinched the bridge of her nose, "sometimes I'm glad I lost it, like 5 percent of the time. If I still worked there the superintendent would be on my ass. And Charlie, once he gets out he'll know where I'm working."

The blue eyed girl scoffed, "even his name turns my stomach."

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"Visiting Charlie is not a good idea Luke." Josh was clearly uncomfortable with what was about to happen. Lucas paced the waiting room, trying to remain calm.

"That's why I brought you."

"Mr. Friar." The receptionist gestured for him, "Unfortunately you aren't allowed to see Mr. Gardner."

The officer clenched his jaw and clicked his tongue several times, "answer me this, and I have my badge if you need to see it. Is Missy Bradford on the barred list?"

"Yes she is." His large hands drummed the desk, "would you like for me to get his doctor?"

"No that's okay. Just tell him I'll be checking in more often. Thank you." The emerald eyed man stormed out towards his truck. "DAMN IT!"

"Luke let me drive." There was no argument as the keys were thrown over the bed of the truck. "It's for the best, what were you planning on telling him when you saw him?"

"It wasn't words I was planning on using."

The dark haired man scoffed and then laughed, "I can see the media coverage on it now."

"Police officer rids world of a disgusting human being?"

"You're delusional Luke, media isn't a police officer's friend." He scratched the back of his head, "it would say officer murdered innocent man in psych ward."

Lucas angrily exhaled, "what do I do Josh?"

"I'd get a restraining order on Missy, who cares if it pisses Riley off? It's for her own good, and you close on the house a few days before your wedding, he won't know where to find her."

The officer sighed again, "I guess you're right. She'll respect my decision, she'll hate it but accept it. Hey, I'm sorry I made us drive all the way out here."

"Don't apologize to me, you'll need to take that up with your fiancée who I'm sure will be very curious to know where we were." His eyebrows rose, "maybe you should tell her."

"No. All of her progress the past couple months will be completely erased, God I can't even imagine if he gets out and tries to find her." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "humor me. What are the odds of him getting out of there?"

Josh furrowed his brows, "like break out before he's released?"

"Yeah."

He lazily shrugged his shoulders, "Max 10 percent."

"That doesn't make me feel better, that's what I was thinking."

"Luke, all we know is that he's crazy about her and it really just depends on how he's handling the sessions. I highly doubt that anything will happen, and if he does you'll be the first notified."

"Josh, you were supposed to tell me there's no way he could get out." Lucas snaked his head to the left to look at him.

"Would you have believed me?"

"No."

The dark haired man laughed, "Well there you go." Silence fell upon them and Josh couldn't hold back his thoughts anymore, "Luke let's just say he does get out, wouldn't you want Riley prepared?"

"Of course, why is that a question?"

"How can she be prepared if you don't tell her what's going on? As an officer our job is to prepare for the most of unlikely scenarios, like if you weren't immediately notified that he escaped."

His green eyes narrowed, "shit." He hated that he was cussing so much, he hated that Josh was right but he really hated this entire situation.

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"Hey baby, what's going on?" Riley climbed into his truck and kissed his cheek. "Josh said you were waiting, why didn't you want to come inside?" His gorgeous eyes stared at his fiancée and he sweetly stroked her cheek. "Lucas you're starting to scare me."

The brunette released a light laugh but the expression across her face made it apparent she was worried. "I just, let's go home and talk okay?"

"Okay?" She bit her lip and buckled her seatbelt, "we're okay though right? Like you aren't breaking up with me?"

"NO! Don't ever say that, no baby." His hand lifted hers off the arm rest and he pressed his lips against her fingertips. "I'd be stupid to leave you." Her brown eyes lightened, "I just want to get you home." Lucas' smile faded when he turned away from her and back onto the road.

"I love you."

"I love you beautiful girl." He kissed her hand again. How was he going to tell her this? How was he going to explain to her that he was failing to protect her from things like this even after they were together. He was hoping more than anything that she wouldn't get mad at him, even though he knew she would be. A silent 10 minute drive later they pulled into his driveway, and stepping into their home.

"Okay now, tell me before I lose my mind. Something's really bothering you." The brunette led him to the couch and sat in his lap, her favorite seat in the house.

Lucas sighed and rubbed her leg. "I have been hiding something from you." Riley broke eye contact and looked towards the ground, "Charlie has been sending you letters. When I missed our date a while back I went to go see his doctor." Her lips slowly separated and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"And today?"

"I went to see him." Her head craned to the left, "turns out I'm not allowed to see him." A sigh of relief was released from her system, "I'm not going to tell you what was in the letters."

"I wasn't going to ask." The brunette rolled off his lap and hastily opened a beer for her to chug, "I want to get the hell out of this house. I don't want my job back, I just I want to get out of here Lucas." Tears welled up in her eyes and he enveloped her into his chest.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart." The officer stroked her hair, "There's a little more. But it isn't proven."

"Crap, what?"

He kissed the top of her head, "we're getting a restraining order on Missy."

The brunette withdrew from his grasp, "why? What good is that?"

"She's the one delivering the letters." Riley kneeled to the ground and clutched her head, "the restraining order will prevent her from getting close to the house and she's been barred access to Charlie." She got goosebumps from his name, Riley inhaled deeply to stop herself from crying. "Charlie's-"

"Please don't say his name anymore." Her chin trembled and she felt like she was having a panic attack. Lucas sat on the floor beside her, "Lord please take away my fears. Please just take this burden away from me." Riley moved to lay on the floor and continued to utter those words, the officer felt helpless. He did the only thing he could think of, he was there for her. He laid beside her and clutched her hands, his green eyes studied her, the fear was evident. "I want to get out of here Lucas."

"Just a few more weeks' baby." He stroked her hair, "I'll e-mail Whitney and see if we can move up the date at all. Okay?" Lucas' strong arms pulled her into his chest, he wanted to end this fear. He wanted to end Charlie, a part of him almost wanted him to get out and be stupid enough to come after her. The brunette began to unbutton his shirt and kiss his chest. Her hands caressed his body, feeling his distinct abs and she pressed her lips against his. Riley ripped his shirt off, and felt his fingertips play with the strap of her tank top.

"I need you Lucas."

"You have me sweetheart." His lips found her neck as he unbuttoned her jeans. She let out a light moan and a small giggle. Like she always did when he kissed her neck. With one quick motion Lucas was leaning against the cabinets and the brunette was on top, throwing her shirt to the side and unbuttoning his jeans and throwing them to the side. She bit her lip as he slid inside of her, he loved this part, her gasp for air, and gasp for pleasure as she clutched her hair was extremely sexy. "Oh God, I love you Riley."

"I love you Lucas."

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Thanks for reading. Please follow, favorite and review.


	13. Author's Note

Hey everyone, I know you have all been waiting for an update on this story. I am currently starting the next chapter so please bare with me I had a sever case of writer's block. But, I did get like 3 new stories out of it. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding!


	14. Chapter 13-Job

**Chapter 13**

Riley buttoned her black blazer and stared into the mirror. Even if she didn't get her job back tonight they'd be going on a cruise in a few days and she got married next week. Which has completely stressed her out as of late, there were so many little things that she had forgotten to do and no matter the reassurance from Lucas she couldn't stop freaking out about it. Her brown orbs moved towards her left hand, her loving fiancée no matter how much she called him a 'stupid head' took her ring to get the wedding band made. He'd gotten her a small silver and diamond band to replace it in the meantime. Which was something else they had gotten into an argument about, her money obsession had come back and in full force. She blamed the stress of it all.

The brunette tousled her hair and helped loosen the curls that hung right above her shoulders, she inhaled deeply feeling all the nerves rushing towards her all at once like a hammer hitting a nail. Would all the kids show up like they originally said? Would her team even show up? Their contest last week was amazing and she hated to admit that the girls were more keen to hear what 'Ms. Matthews' had to say then their temporary director. "You look beautiful sweetheart." The dancer released a sympathy smile and turned towards her fiancée, her future, her hero. "You'll do amazing."

She nodded, "and if I don't I still have that interview in a few weeks."

"Don't think like that." Lucas escorted her to his truck and though they had been arguing about the wedding the past few weeks, mostly money he had never loved her more. It only affirmed her love for him that it wasn't about money. The letters had come to a halt since they got the restraining order, but he often thought back to the time where Missy was confronted by a more than livid Riley.

 _Riley was pulling weeds in the front yard to pass the time, which was something she was trying to do a lot. The brunette was pretty positive she was losing her mind, "20 minutes, till Lucas is home." Hoss and Coal laid on the porch occasionally getting up to go play, but for the most part they were feeling lazy. A few minutes had passed when Coal started to growl. "Hey easy. SIT." The black lab did as instructed but continued to glare behind her._

" _Riley."_

" _Son of a-"The brunette tossed off her gloves, "Coal kill." That wasn't a command he knew obviously but the fact Missy stepped back from horror made her happy. Lucas' ex stood in her yard, letting her heels sink into the ground, Riley took a few steps forward and glared into her eyes. "What?!" Before she got a chance to open her mouth Riley interrupted again, "You know what. I don't give a damn get the hell out of here." Her blood began to boil, thinking back to everything Missy has done. Practically giving them no choice but to move after revealing her new address. Delivering letters from Charlie, all of it. Their first fight after her surgery, all because of her._

" _I need to talk to-"Without even thinking the brunette shoved her._

" _I don't care Missy! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"_

" _That's assault!"_

 _Riley scoffed and heard a truck pull up, "NO!" Riley clenched her fist and with one quick motion punched Missy in the jaw, "THAT'S ASSAULT!"_

" _HEY!" Lucas' strong hands wrapped around her waist pulling his fiancée away from the situation._

" _You're bat shit crazy." Missy lifted herself off the ground and spit some blood out on the grass. "I might file some assault charges." Riley leapt forward, but being held back by the officer it did her no good._

" _I asked you to leave twice you stupid-"_

" _Baby why don't you go inside. I have something for her anyways so this works out perfectly." The brown eyed girl smirked, knowing what he was talking about and sauntered inside with the dogs on her heels. "Missy it was really stupid of you to show up here. You obviously know that we found out you were delivering the letters. What'd you think someone like Riley was going to do? Shake your hand?"_

 _Her jaw was already starting to bruise and even though he didn't like his fiancée fighting he couldn't help but be more than impressed. "I came to talk-"_

" _I don't care Missy." He pulled out a piece of folded up paper from his back pocket, "this is what is known as a restraining order. If you so much as come 30 yards close to this house, close to Riley or to me I will have you arrested. And I will tack on an accessory to murder charge, since that's what Charlie plans on doing to Riley anyways."_

" _WHA-"Her hand still cupped her jaw which was bleeding from Riley's class ring she wore on her right hand. It was tiny so there wasn't much damage, but that didn't really matter to a model._

" _I'm not finished." He interrupted and clenched his jaw, "you are done ruining our lives Missy. I'm sick of you thinking your conniving can get you anything you want. You have 1 minute to get off our property or I'll arrest you." The emerald eyed man clicked a few buttons on his watch, "55 seconds."_

" _Lucas-"_

" _I'm being generous Missy, 45 seconds. I could arrest you right now." He never once glanced up from his watch. Not until he heard a car peel out and saw Missy leave. The officer turned around to go inside where Riley was waiting for him, biting her lip. Obviously Officer Friar made her frisky._

" _Lucas."_

"Lucas? Hey you okay?" He blinked several times and grinned. "You alright?"

"I'm great actually, just day dreaming about you punching Missy."

She giggled and reached out for his hand, "that felt really good."

"I bet it did, I wish I could get that same satisfaction with Charlie." The grip on her fingers tightened.

"Easy killer." He released the grip and smiled while pulling into a parking spot.

"Sorry sweetheart I'm just-"

"I know," the brunette interrupted, "jonesing to give him a beat down."

The truck slammed into park, "You ready?" She disagreed staring at the entrance of the building, "you deserve this job Riles. You deserve every good thing that could possibly happen to you so let's do this. Give me a knuck." She giggled and fist bumped him before leaning in for a kiss, "I love you Riley."

"I love you Lucas."

Riley stepped into the building and almost couldn't fight the tears back, they came. As soon as one student noticed she was bombarded with hugs. "You guys came."

Her old captain stepped out from the crowd, "of course we did Ms. Matthews. You're going to get your job back, and we're here to show them that they were wrong to get rid of you." Every direction she glanced there was a smiling student, even students who had gotten in trouble by her came.

"If everyone could find their seats please." The brunette took the officers hand and found 2 seats at the front. "We know a good portion of you this evening are here for one particular subject and the board has decided to move onto that topic of discussion. But, before we have our main speaker Ms. Matthews is there anyone else who would like to speak on her behalf?"

Hands shot up in every direction, but Alex was the first to make it to the podium. "Relax sweetheart." His lips touched her temple. He knew her like the back of his hand, her leg bounced and her palms were sweaty, all tells that she was nervous.

"Good evening ladies and gentleman of the school board. My name is Alex Hill, I'm a senior at John Adams High School and have had the privilege of knowing Ms. Matthews all 4 of those years. Not only as a high school principal but as a director for my drill team." She gulped, clearly nervous but after Alex glanced at Riley a wave of confidence rushed over her. "Ms. Matthews is the best teacher I have ever had. She wasn't just a teacher to any of us," her hands gestured to the students around us. "She was a mentor, a friend, someone you could go to for guidance. Most of all to me, she was an inspiration." The brunette wiped a tear away and couldn't help but jog to give her a hug. "I'm serious Ms. Matthews, it was you who stayed with me till 8 o'clock to work on my technique. It was you who helped me through my parent's divorce and it was you who deeply instilled my love for dance." Riley found her way back to her seat and took Lucas' hand again.

Lucas stared at his fiancée with such admiration that someone could have such an impact on so many people's lives was more than attractive. "Ladies and Gentleman of the school board I beg, no I implore you to please reconsider, and reinstate her to the rightful position of principal and director. Thank you." There was applause as she stepped away from the podium and another student quickly took her spot.

"Ms. Matthews didn't even teach math and she helped me..."

"Ms. Matthews saw I was acting out for reasons other than attention and helped me figure out what to do..."

"Ms. Matthews believed in me when no one else would…"

"Ms. Matthews gave me a second chance…"

"Don't deprive future students of Ms. Matthews…"

Lucas couldn't pull his eyes away from her.

"Alright, please settle down. I feel like we've heard quite enough from students can Ms. Riley Matthews please come to the podium." All the students as well as some parents clapped as she made her way in front of the 'judge and jury'.

"Good evening ladies and gentleman." She cleared her throat and after a deep inhale was able to continue. "First of all thank you so much all of my students for coming out here to support me tonight. You have no idea what this means to me." Her attention turned back towards the front at all the non-smiley faces. And one in particular stood out, the superintendent. "My name is Riley Matthews and I am here this evening to fight for my position back as John Adams Principal and Drill Team Director. As you are all aware the last superintendent Charlie Gardner promoted me a little over 2 years ago. You are all also aware of what has transpired since then, so there is no need to go into detail. I am aware that the new Superintendent believes I was promoted because of feelings that Mr. Gardner harbored for me. Which, that very well could be. But, that doesn't alter the fact that things have changed since I got promoted. Test scores have risen by 32 percent in my 2 years as principal, even attendance has increased."

The brunette glanced at her fiancée who held a sexy smirk and nodded his head for me to continue. "Superintendent you and I have a little history that I'm sure the rest of the board doesn't know about." Eyes shot at him from around the table which he ignored while glaring at her. "But they also don't know how great I am at my job, neither do you. Look at all these kids behind me. I have had to unfortunately witness some teachers forcefully leave in my time here, and never has there been this kind of turn out. Not to toot my own horn but I feel like that is a great sign, you see hope in their eyes again. Like, Samuel," she gestured to a student a few rows away, "he was a sophomore when I was promoted and a frequent guest in my office as he mentioned. But instead of judging him for his previous indiscretions I looked past that to this wonderful, amazing, sweet boy who needed help. I noticed that the first time I met with him, look at him now." Her brown eyes shifted back to the student, her eyes were glossy, her smile genuine. "I am so proud of you Samuel. You really have no idea how far you've come. He is currently top 10 percent in the senior class. I'm really so proud."

Applause thundered throughout the room and he ran to give her a hug, "because of you Ms. Matthews." The brunette left her arm around his shoulder.

"I'm not here to talk about how amazing I think I am. If you don't rehire me so be it, because as an educator, as a principal I have done my job by making the biggest impact on these kids that I possibly could." Her eyes glossed over, "and that's all I've ever wanted. If you don't reinstate me than that's okay but I will know it isn't because I'm not good at my job. I may be young Superintendent and you may have horrible thoughts in your head about me, but I love this school. I love these kids, I love my job and this is my home." Samuel gave her one last hug and took his seat. "After everything that has happened, for me to say that 'this is where I belong' is a huge statement. I ask of you to please reconsider the decision to remove me from my position as both principal and drill team director. Thank you."

The room again broke out into cheers and applause, the brunette took a deep breath and turned her focus to Lucas who was beaming with pride. The superintendent cleared his throat, "we will obviously need time to discuss our decision. You will receive an e-mail regarding our conclusion the Monday after spring break."

"Thank you for your time." The brunette nodded and was followed out of the building by just about everyone in the building. There were a few parents and others who stayed for other personal reasons and when Lucas glanced towards the front and made eye contact with the Superintendent, the officer couldn't help but smirk.

"I tried to warn him." He mumbled and found his fiancée covered with students and coated in tears. He'd never been more in love with her than he had now. He found himself saying that a lot, more often than not actually and that was more than okay. "Do you mind if I steal my fiancée away kids? I gotta take her on a date."

After a few protests and lots of good byes, they intertwined their hands to saunter towards the truck, "Riley Matthews you are an incredible woman."

"Lucas Friar you're full of it."

He chuckled and cupped her face, "I've never been more in love with you than I am right now." Their foreheads touched, "God I love you." His lips met hers as they moved in sync with one another. They'd been doing this for months but their kisses were never without butterflies.

"I love you too Lucas."

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Lucas stepped into Woolard's Jewelry the day before they had to go on the cruise, with Josh on his heels. "Did he call you and tell you it was ready?"

"No, but he said it would be." Lucas replied with hope, "he hasn't let me down yet."

"Mr. Friar!" The older gentleman sauntered out from the back, "I was just about to call you."

"Good news or bad news?" He joked.

"Great news! One second!"

Josh smirked and gave him a high five, "can't wait to see it."

"Sarcasm?"

"What gave it away?" Her uncle joked, "Maya says you and Riley have been bickering back and forth."

The green eyed man agreed, "Just over stupid stuff. I know as soon as the wedding is over it'll be fine. But right now it's money, and I don't like that song or flowers. I literally tell her to do whatever she wants and I can cover whatever cost and she flips a lid." He laughed just thinking about it, "Man I love her."

Josh chuckled, "pretty sure Maya and I are going to elope. She doesn't want the stress that your fiancée is making it out to be."

Lucas was about to say something when Mr. Woolard came back out. "It turned out beautifully. Leave it in the bag though, I re-dipped it and I'd hate for it to get dirty."

The officer removed it from his hands and with one glance he knew. This was exactly what he wanted. "Oh my God. It's perfect."

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 **Let me know what y'all think! Another update will be coming much sooner than this one! Thank you all for your patience!**


	15. Chapter 14-Cruise Pt 1

**Chapter 14**

"LUCAS! MAYA! JOSH! WAKE UP!" Riley was jumping on the bed her fiancée was laying on. "IT'S CRUISE DAY!" The officer searched frantically for her hand and yanked her back down on the bed, "Hi baby." He finally opened his eyes and noticed her radiant smile.

"You are awful excited and so adorable." Lucas pulled her into his chest, and shut his eyes again. It was quiet too quiet. He felt a tap on his nose, "what are you doing?"

"Wake up handsome!"

The emerald eyed man let out a heavy sigh, "what time is it?"

"Time to go." The brunette tried to pull away when he tightened his grip, "come on baby this is your first cruise and we have a balcony and there's food and there's so much fun!"

"God you're adorable." He opened his eyes again and kissed her forehead, "fine I'm up!" He sat up and began stretching releasing his hold on Riley. His laugh exploded throughout the room as she jumped onto the other bed.

"Hey Josh, remind me why we got one room again?" Maya said lazily.

Her uncle grunted, "Cheaper, I think was the reasoning."

"Get up lazy bones! We have to beat the lines!" Lucas sauntered out of the bathroom while brushing his teeth and noticed she was already dressed, and had their bags packed with his clothes laying on top. The blonde sat up and glanced at her best friend with a small smirk, "Yes peaches." With one swift motion Riley toppled onto the floor, "No peaches."

Everyone laughed while the officer helped her off the floor, "you alright sweetheart."

"Peaches was mean." The brunette glanced down at her right hand, and the small band on her pinky finger. "Maya don't make me do this!"

"NO!" The blonde exclaimed startling both Josh and Lucas.

"Luke what's happening?"

"Josh, I was gonna ask you the same thing."

"Riiiillllleeeeyyyy. Please." Maya begged.

The dancer glared, "RING POWER!" Her fist was tossed in the air.

"RING POWER!"

"THUNDER!" Riley exclaimed, confusing Josh and Lucas even more.

"LIGHTNING!" Maya tossed the blankets off of the bed and meandered into the bathroom.

Riley and Maya went about their way, apparently that was normal?

Lucas shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not even worried about it."

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There were literally no words for Lucas to describe this place, he was kind of wishing he would've booked another cruise for their wedding. But, Riley had always wanted to go to Paris so there was no way he could regret it. They stepped into the elevator and it took them up to the 9th floor, within minutes they were unlocking the door to their room. "What do you think baby?" Lucas stepped into their room with a huge smile on his face, it was small sure but incredibly cozy. A queen sized bed and a small couch but the balcony is what really caught his eye. Riley grinned at the fact he didn't have any words and watched him open the sliding door, quickly following behind him. "The view isn't as pretty yet since we aren't on the open ocean but I'm hoping you think it will be worth the extra money you spent."

"It already is." His emerald eyes moved to the left and smirked at his fiancée. "It's something you wanted." The officer wrapped his large arms around her, "I can see us sitting out here and talking late at night or drinking coffee in the mornings." His fingers worked to push some hair out of her face, "I love you Riley, so please stop worrying about money. If it is something you want than it is worth it."

"I know you've sai-"

"Baby, please shut up and kiss me." A smile spread across both of their faces before lightly touching lips. After they had their safety meeting at their assigned Munster stations the girls got their VIP passes to the spa and took a look at the gym. The treadmills were facing a window and you got a beautiful view of the ocean line. Lucas couldn't help but keep hearing the words Lido Deck from all around him, "hey beautiful what's a Lido Deck?"

"Let's go check it out." She intertwined their fingers and they quickly were followed by Josh and Maya who luckily got a room a few doors down. After climbing a set of stairs instead of waiting for the busy elevators, the sunlight hit their faces, there was a waterslide and sports area. A pool with a few cabanas to the side and a huge projector TV. Not to mention the never ending pizza, ice cream and the buffet to their left. "They play movies out here at night, would you like to go on a date with me sometime?" The brunette bit her lip and saw the excitement behind his eyes.

"Of course I would." His hand held her face and kissed her softly, she deepened the kiss with each movement.

"EXCUSE ME!" Maya joked, "Riles let's get a drink!" Riley and Lucas reluctantly let their fingertips fall away. "Josh beer?"

"Lucas beer?"

"Please!" The partners glanced at each other.

"We just said that in unison." Josh joked.

Lucas laughed, "Yeah we need to quit hanging out so much." The Carnival Magic had made its way out of the pier and slowly drifted into the open water. The officer leaned over the side of the railing, "Wow I have a feeling this is going to be a great trip."

"You'll enjoy yourself. Besides this might prevent her from freaking over the wedding."

Lucas agreed, "I just hate that this wedding has stressed her out so much. She's afraid every move she makes will hurt someone's feelings. Like she can't set Maya next to an old friend, Farkle because they used to date. Or maybe she should do like a bridal party table, but there's just you and Maya we don't have any more groomsmen or bridesmaids." He started laughing, "I just want her to be happy."

"Hell, just get married on the ship." Josh joked, "You have the ring she's got a pretty dress for formal nights. The captain could do it." His emerald eyes brightened and turned to look at her uncle.

 _No, she'd never go for that. She's been so busy preparing for this wedding and her wedding dress, no never work._ He shook himself out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar and gorgeous voice. "I hear a beautiful girl." His arms wrapped around Riley's waist, "thank you darlin'."

"No problem." She gave him a small wink, "our dinner is at 6 y'all. It is currently 4 o'clock so I'm going to go back downstairs with my other half here so just meet outside our room?"

"Sounds great Riles, he wants to go check out the sports area over there. So y'all have fun." The blonde gave one final wink before Maya and Josh sauntered away with love exuding from their bodies. Riley had never seen the other so happy, their eyes were brighter, and smiles wider.

"We're going back to the room?" Lucas questioned with slight disappointment.

"Just for like 30 minutes?" The brunette bit the corner of her lip, hinting at what she wanted.

"Oh hell yeah."

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Luckily they had gotten a table together, the group admitted that everything was falling into place for their trip. Rooms a few doors down, and a dining room window seat together. They had the perfect view of the sunset and Riley kept getting lost in it. Lucas would stare at her for a few minutes before lightly kissing her head or clutching her hand, to bring her back to reality. "Baby you're shrimp cocktail is here." The brunette shook her head and giggled.

"Okay so Riles, how much would you hate me if we went to Vegas just us 4 for our wedding?" Maya questioned.

"Are you kidding? It's your day, you do whatever you want but you still have to wear that to die for dress!" She gushed and took a sip of water, "Lucas did you already eat all of your shrimp?"

He chuckled, "yeah, I wish I could have some more."

"You can." His fiancée mumbled while taking a bite.

"What?"

"Unlimited food bro." Josh gave him a fist bump before buttering up some bread, "I'm telling you a cruise can be expensive but let's be honest the amount of food alone that you can eat it practically pays for itself. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, unlimited. You are welcome!"

Riley shook her head, "oh my goodness peaches! You could get married in Vegas but have a reception for family and friends that couldn't come, because let's be honest my grandparents will flip a lid if they don't get to celebrate with you guys. That way you could still wear your dress, and I could wear my Maid of Honor dress that I bought."

The blonde giggled, "We had joked about getting married by the captain but we really liked the idea of Vegas so we'll see what happens with the reception."

"The captain?" The officer glanced at his fiancée, trying to see how she felt about this. "The captain can marry y'all?"

Josh nodded, "yup. You didn't know that Principal Matthews?"

"No." She giggled, "but that'd be pretty romantic like look at that," the brunette gestured out the window at the beautiful ocean view and the sun fighting to stay above the water. "That's gorgeous who wouldn't want to get married in front of that."

"So you'd do it?" Her blue eyes glistened with intrigue.

Riley nodded while taking a sip of water, "oh yeah. If we hadn't spent so much money already."

"Well do what you told me and have a reception."

Lucas and Riley glanced at each other, her eyes were lost in thought that much was evident. "Nah, you're crazy! Plus I don't have his ring or my ring it wouldn't work. Maybe my next marriage though."

"That's what I was gonna say!" Maya joked and after a dainty wrist break with a small hair toss they both mumbled, "Stop it."

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"So I know we're being totally lame coming back to the cabin right after the movie, but I am so tired! So I figured we could get some sleep and conquer everything tomorrow!" Riley landed on the bed and rolled over to face him.

"Baby this cruise is incredible! I'm going to have to work out every day if there's unlimited food." The brunette giggled, "Like look! Who makes a monkey out of a towel?"

"That's one of earth's unsolved mysteries." She giggled and laughed even harder when the officer began to tickle her, "please stop!" She let out a squeal and instantly covered her mouth. "That was so loud."

"Hence why I stopped tickling you." The brunette slapped his arm and stood up to take her boots off, "so what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

"I was thinking," she mused for a moment, "a little drinking, a little food, and a little sex." His face lifted off the bed and slowly turned towards her, "what is it? Did I say something wrong?"

With one swift motion she was straddling him, "excuse me sir. I don't think that this is appropriate."

He chuckled and tucked some hair behind her ear, "you're so gorgeous and perfect!"

"Only with you baby." Her eyes trailed down and to the right, her thinking face.

"What's on your mind sweetheart?"

"Nothing." Her hair wrapped around her finger.

"Is that why you're biting your lip, twirling your hair and got your thinking face on?" The brunette face palmed herself.

"I'm so easy to read."

"Yes ma'am you are." She remained straddling him as he sat up and wrapped his arms around her back, "what's up buttercup?"

"That's new." She giggled, "Nothing I've just got this weird feeling and I can't put my finger on it. Like something is off. Have you ever felt that way?"

"Yeah, every time I go into a dangerous situation. Which is why this kind of scares me, do you know what it's about?" She disagreed.

"It's almost like ominous, I know that's like Final Destination creepy but it's true, it's probably nothing actually I'm pretty sure it is nothing but when we get to Jamaica in a couple of days I'm going to call my parents and make sure everything's okay."

He furrowed his brows, "you're safe baby. I can tell you're worried." A light smile approached her lips before kissing him, "I love you."

"I love you too."

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Riley tip toed out of the bed and put on one of his sweat shirts before stepping out onto the balcony. It was only 6:30 and though it was still completely dark outside she knew in a few moments the sun would creep above the skyline. It was so peaceful and quiet, the night sky was adorned with diamond like stars as the sound of the heavy waves crashed against the boat.

Lucas sighed slightly and felt out beside him hoping to pull her into his chest, but no Riley. "Sweetheart?" He opened his emerald eyes and whined for her again before realizing the curtains of the balcony were opened. She made sure she shut them last night before they, anyways they were shut. He threw on a pair of basketball shorts to join the love of his life. The officer didn't open up the balcony door yet, he stared at her curled up in the chair and cuddling into his sweatshirt. Her face was perfectly serene, her eyelids were closed she must have been enjoying the wind that was blowing across her face and the sound of the ocean. "I can't take it anymore." He had to hold her.

The sound of the door startled her, "hey baby good morning. I'm so sorry did I wake you?"

"No you didn't, you not being there did." Like he didn't just wake up he lifted her off the chair and set her in his lap. "Wanting to watch the sunrise?"

"Yeah, it's beautiful. Once I got done I was going to order room service, they don't have a full breakfast menu but coffee and some fruit would be a great start I thought." His lips touched her shoulder while his hands rubbed her soft legs.

"You're so wonderful." She let out a happy sigh and leaned into his chest, "Riley I'm so happy with you. Do you know that?"

"You have no idea Luke."

"What do you mean?" He laughed.

"I was practically in love with you for 10 years, so you have no idea how happy I am, you won't ever know how that feels." She whispered and craned her neck to glance at him, and was met with his lips. "I love you."

His fingers continued to run up her legs, "I love you too." He furrowed his brows with a sexy smirk. "You aren't wearing anything under this sweat shirt? Are you?"

The dancer bit her lip, "I wasn't expecting you to come out here."

"I'm here now."

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Thanks for reading y'all. Let me know what y'all think! Don't be a silent reader!


	16. Chapter 15-Proposal

**Chapter 15**

"Hi Riley."

The brunette spun on her heels and gasped, "CHARLIE? No, no, no." Tears fell from her eyes, "please leave me alone. Please." He grabbed her wrist and with all of her force ripped it out of his grasp. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Riley sprinted she had no idea where she was going and she didn't care. "LUCAS!" Her scream pierced even her ears, "LUCAS PLEASE HELP ME!" It was dark, she couldn't see a thing, all she knew was that he was close from the overwhelming aroma of his cologne.

"He's dead Riley." Her entire body trembled, "I can see you."

"Leave me the hell alone!" Her hand curled into a fist, knowing he was right behind her and as she was spinning swung with every bit of power she could muster.

He had her by the neck, "YOU OWE ME!"

"Riley!"

"Please leave me alone!"

"Sweetheart wake up! Wake up beautiful."

"NO!" Riley jolted out of bed crying, her eyes immediately found Lucas sitting up right beside her. The brunette gulped and wiped her face dry while trying to catch her breath.

"Baby come here. What happened, are you okay?" She fell into his chest and noticed she was still shaking. "Talk to me sweetheart."

The dancer gulped again and tried to compose herself unsuccessfully, "Charlie was in my dream."

The officer closed his eyes and muttered a few curse words before kissing her head, "I'm so sorry baby."

"I haven't had a nightmare in months, what's- why? Why is this happening?" They both sat in silence and Riley found herself deep in thought as Lucas caressed her cheek, hoping to keep her calm. "That therapist that I saw said that when things are changing it can sometimes dredge up memories." Her fingers ran through her hair while the other grasped her neck. She so intimately remembered how it felt to have his hands clutching her neck. Her fingers ran over her scar.

"You're scared." Her almond eyes shot up to gaze into his smoldering emerald ones. Her chin started to tremble and with a light head nod and a long blink a few tears were released from her eyes. "Come here sweetheart." Riley crawled into his lap and instantly felt safer once his arms enveloped her. "I'm not going to let him hurt you. Okay?" His lips pressed against the top of her head, "he's not going to hurt you Riley."

"I hate living in fear. Knowing there's nothing I can do about it, sometimes I just wish he'd get out and come after me so I can end it." Her voice was monotone, no emotion, no anger or sadness there wasn't even a hint of regret dripping off her words. "As a Christian I probably shouldn't say that but what's the world with one less Charlie Gardner? Better." She whispered. Lucas didn't say anything he felt the same way, it was 3 o'clock in the morning and the only thing he could really do for her was to hold her, and be there for her. The officer was pretty tired of feeling helpless as well, which only made him angrier. "Don't let me go."

"Never."

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"Hey girl hey." Maya looped her arm through Riley's and grinned, "What are y'all doing?"

Lucas immediately interrupted, "She wants to do the Friend's trivia thing."

"Because she'll win and get a piece of ship."

"What?" Lucas asked quizzically, "a piece of what?"

"S-H-I-P." The brunette spelled out with a giggle as they entered the ocean plaza on level 5. "I've pretty much hid my obsession of Friends from you. I've seen every episode, I own every season, I have Friends Scene It and no one will play with me because they quote 'don't want to lose' unquote."

Josh started laughing, "I said that one time and you won't let me live it down."

"And sweetheart, you have not hid that obsession from me. You watch it all the time."

The brunette stopped in her tracks and placed her hand on his chest. "You have no idea."

"IF YOU ARE HERE FOR FRIENDS TRIVIA PLEASE GRAB A PIECE OF PAPER AND PENCIL SO WE CAN GET STARTED."

Riley stood on her toes and gave him a kiss, "I love you Lucas but this had to come out sooner or later. I'm addicted, I may not get addicted to meds but I have a problem when it comes to Friends." The intensity in her eyes was ridiculous for talking about a TV show.

"It's Rileytown Lucas, just let her have this." He rolled his eyes and gave her a kiss. Josh and his partner found a seat and waited on their girls to get back.

Josh snapped Lucas out of his Riley filled daze, "Hey man are y'all doing the Stingray thing tomorrow?" He cocked his head to the side, "the excursion at the Grand Cayman Islands. You'll get to swim with stingrays, then you'll get to go to a beach and get lunch. Riley didn't tell you, she loves that excursion, though she freaks out the last few times she did it. You're out there for like 45 minutes and 30 of those minutes she spends talking herself into getting in the water." The officer laughed.

"Yeah that sounds about right. I'll talk to her, right now she needs to focus. The intensity in her eyes about this trivia thing was pretty powerful." Lucas joked and took a drink of his beer, "hey sweetheart."

"Shush." His hands immediately went up in surrender. "I love you Lucas but shush."

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Riley and Maya sauntered into the spa and sat in the eucalyptus steam room while the boys worked out. "I should really be at the gym right now. Ever since my surgery I've gotten lazy." Riley admitted while inhaling deeply, the only way she could handle these rooms was by over exaggerating her inhales and exhales.

"You're on vacation peaches, relax. So, are you and Lucas getting married on the ship?"

The brunette scoffed, "we already have everything planned out. Venue, DJ everything."

"And? What's your point?"

The brunette opened her eyes and laughed, "No we aren't getting married on the ship. We've spent way too much money already."

"Sorry I asked, I just saw how happy you were. Your face lit up when you were talking about the sunset." She bit her cheek knowing it was true, and if it was evident to her then it was only a matter of time before Lucas came sniffing around. "I heard you punched Missy. May I ask why you didn't tell me?"

"Oh man, that was definitely in my top 5 favorite days of all time." She exhaled again, "And just because I can throw a punch and defend myself doesn't mean I like to. I'm a lady after all, I will divulge that she probably couldn't take any pictures the next day."

"You didn't have a problem defending yourself with the guy at the theatre that one time."

She giggled, "Because he deserved it, snatching my wrist like that and you were kind of right. I was trying to prove a point back then, more to myself than to anyone else that I was able to take care of myself. Being an independent woman, then moving in with Lucas having someone watching over me all the time and not being able to do little things like driving, I don't know I guess I needed that feeling."

"Adrenaline?"

"I don't really know, freedom?" She bit her lip, "I had a nightmare and I've had like this weird feeling lately and it could just be because so many things are changing. Our house is all boxed up, we are going on this cruise, moving into our new place, wedding, honeymoon. It's a lot all at once and I think that's what could be triggering it."

"Things will slow down Riley and you'll get bored."

The brunette shook her head, "No, I'm never bored with him, just like I'm never bored with you. We've been friends since middle school and we still always find something to talk about or to do. Speaking of when are we going to Vegas?"

"I don't know, we aren't stressing about it."

She scoffed, "I wish I had your mentality."

"Then have it. Not everything has to be perfect Riles. You don't have to have goodbye gifts for your guests or choose between bubbles and sparklers. The day is supposed to be about you and Lucas, what you two want. Celebrating your love together and becoming one." She let out a heavy sigh, "It doesn't have to be like in every cliché wedding movie. It could be me and Josh in Vegas with you and Lucas or both of you with us on this ship. It doesn't matter what everyone else says and thinks, in the end you are going to wonder why you invited so many people and why you spent so much money on something that is as simple as professing your love for one another."

Riley's eyes were wide and her lips were separated, "what the heck? Where did that come from?" The blonde shrugged her shoulders, "is it because you are half asleep right now?"

The blue eyed girl giggled and opened her eyes, "yeah probably."

"First let me just commend you on the fact that you can sleep in a steam room, way too hot for me. Second that was incredibly sweet. I'm proud of you peaches, for a while you didn't want to get married, or hardly believe in love and now you're giving me words of wisdom."

"It's weird what love can do to you."

"Preach Maya, preach! Being loved by others gives you strength, but loving others gives you courage. We read that somewhere in school and it always kind of stuck with me. I don't know why but you are right, love makes you do crazy things. Like possibly kill me by slamming me into a brick wall."

The blonde shot up and glared at her best friend, "Not funny!"

"Too soon?"

"It won't ever be funny!"

She tousled her long damp locks, "sorry won't happen again peaches. Love you."

"Love you too."

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"We're doing it Riley!" Lucas was maneuvering through the screen on their TV to buy the Stingray Excursion tickets. "This is something you love to do and I really want to do it also so back off woman!"

"Lucas it is so expensive. Like $200 a person, please stop we already have the wedding and the house." The brunette tried to snatch the remote away but he was considerably taller.

"Stop arguing with me about money. Damn it Riley, get it through your skull we don't have to worry about it."

Her brows furrowed with his genuine anger, "you cussed at me."

"And I'll do it again until you stop freaking out over money." The brunette slapped his chest and meandered towards the balcony. "Where are you going?"

"I need a timeout." The dancer shut the door behind her and the officer sat on the bed.

"What doesn't she understand? We have the money, ugh." His eyes brightened with an idea and immediately knocked on the balcony door. "Riley can I come out of timeout?"

"Yes get over here." His hands held the railing around her and he pressed his chest against her back. "I'm sorry I keep freaking out."

Lucas kissed her head, "I have an idea. Let's get married."

Riley started giggling, "Yup that is what we are doing. In a little over a week."

"I mean tonight." The brunette spun around in his arms and narrowed her eyes, "You said yourself that you'd do it, that you would love it because it's so beautiful."

"You're serious?" She questioned and continued to try and wrap her mind around his proposal.

"Damn right. Tonight or tomorrow, before we get off the boat. We can still have the reception like you said, we've got our maid of honor and best man. You've got a gorgeous dress to wear, I've got your ring." Her almond eyes lifted off of the ground, "Yeah I got it."

Her lips curved upwards, "can I ask why you want to get married today or tomorrow?"

"Because I love you, because I am so tired of seeing you stress out about money because of our wedding. Because I know you'd rather get married during sunset in the middle of the ocean than anywhere else."

"So you think that getting our vows over with will make me less stressed basically?" The sun hit his green eyes just right and with a sultry smirk he nodded his head, "You are officially crazy that'd never work." She whispered, the smirk slowly revealed his teeth, "you think you're convincing me."

"Aren't I?"

"What about all the money we've spent?"

The officer bit his lip, "you'll still get to wear your dress and we'll still have a reception hell we can even redo our vows. But it's you and me Riley, it's what you and I want to do. I don't give a damn about money," her lips separated, "I know I cussed blah, blah but I really don't care about money. If getting married at sunset on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean is something you want, then I'm going to get it for you. Yes or no, either way it won't bother me because you'll be my wife eventually." She giggled.

"I doubt the captain would even do it." Her mind was going a million miles per hour and she had no idea how on earth this was going to make her feel 'less stressed' but that look in his eyes was more than convincing.

Her hair blew in the wind, "there's only one way to find out."

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Thanks for reading.


	17. Chapter 16-News

**Chapter 16**

Lucas grasped Riley's hand tightly as they finally got through the hell that was getting off the ship. Their phones were still going crazy and neither one of them picked them up. Not yet, they wanted to go home. Not to the house where she came after being dismissed from the hospital or the one her and Lucas had their first argument. They were going to their new house, that the brunette was determined to make a home. Their home.

"So what'd you think baby?" She questions with a little bit of sarcasm in her tone.

"Pretty freaking wonderful. We will definitely have to do that again." His arm rested over her shoulder as he planted a small kiss on her head, "I love you baby."

"I love you." They gazed into each other's eyes and she couldn't hold back her excitement. "I GET MARRIED IN 6 DAYS!"

"Yeah, I know." The officer replied with a smile and took note that his phone quit vibrating, "I'm sorry we couldn't get married on the ship sweetheart."

"It's kind of my fault." She replies in a hurry, "I wanted my parents to be there at least. I wanted your parents to be there, it's a big moment. I know it's about you and I ultimately but it's also about everyone coming together to celebrate our love."

Josh and Maya joined the party, "That is the absolute worst part about a cruise, getting off." The blonde states, "But that was the most fun I've had in a while and we will definitely have to do it again." Lucas chuckles and pulls out his phone.

 _20 e-mails._

 _Dr. Knicks._

 _Charlie escaped._

Those are the only words that he could make out. The only thing he could possibly read through the red that he was seeing. Josh instantly noticed and pulled him aside. "Excuse us ladies." The girls continued with their conversation about their favorite parts in the trip. Riley's of course was finally winning a piece of ship. "What's up?" Lucas flips his phone towards his partner and found himself being moved further away. "You have to tell her."

"I'm going to finish this Josh."

"And what get thrown in freaking prison? You can't just shoot him!"

"He's a dangerous fugitive who broke out of an insane asylum to come find my wife Josh. MINE!" He inhales deeply to try and calm down. "I can't tell her, this would break her."

Josh shakes his head, "You have to. How can she defend herself if she has no idea she should?"

The emerald eyed man surveyed the scene in his mind. He had no idea what to do, as an officer of the law he captures the criminals, as Riley's future husband he wants to kill this one. "I'm not saying you have to do it right now but she needs to know and soon before we get back home. If you don't tell her I will."

"Don't even think about it."

Josh doesn't get offended. He knows his partner, he understands how much Riley means to him. Lucas has a temper, and a well-known temper around the precinct. Josh has always kept a lid on his emotions, no matter how personal it got. That's why they were partnered up originally. "You need to chill the hell out Friar. They may have already caught him did you read the other e-mails?"

"No." A wave of relief washed over him as he lifted the phone to meet his gaze.

Her uncle stopped him. "Wait till we get back to the vehicles. If you don't find what you're looking for, you'll be pissed and right now you seem somewhat back to normal. Got it?"

"Yeah." They give each other a hug and saunter back towards their girls who were loading into the shuttle bus. They'd be going to their new home anyways and Charlie doesn't know where that is. That's a plus, he found himself praying to God. She'd been through enough, Riley had been through enough and Lucas didn't know how he was going to tell her.

If he got out once, he could get out again.

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"Hey sweetheart can you drive for me?"

The brunette agreed without hesitation and kissed him before jumping into the truck. "You know I love this truck." Lucas scrolled through all the messages, daily updates on Charlie, and after reading the dates he realized Charlie got out yesterday.

 _To: Dr. Knicks._

 _What's the status update on Charlie? Has he been apprehended? Do we know of his whereabouts? Please respond immediately._

"Who're you talking to?"

"Oh just some work e-mails." He tries to relax his fists and fails epically as he can feel them turning white. "Did you get anything from the school district?"

"No, not yet. But they said tomorrow, and I'm sure if I did get my job back the super intendent would want me to sweat it out a little more." She giggles and took his hand, "If I don't though. That's okay, I'm not worried as long as you're by my side we can get through anything." The officer couldn't help but think that this cruise was exactly what she needed to relax. After their argument and he came up with the idea to get married on the cruise ship. Things simmered down.

Riley apologized she was just extremely stressed which the jade eyed man completely understood. That's why the dreams came back that one night. They will come back full force once he tells her the truth and the thought alone was unbearable. His teeth bare down on his bottom lip and he can feel a pair of gorgeous chestnut eyes glancing at him. "What's wrong handsome?"

"Nothing."

"Liar, liar. Pants on fire!" She joked to get a laugh but instead got a light chuckle, "Seriously. What's wrong?"

"Why don't you pull over for me?" She turns on her blinker to get off the highway and stays silent. The dancer knows something is wrong and is afraid to pry any more. She pulled into a Denny's parking lot and maneuvered her body to face him. "Give me the keys."

Riley did as instructed but knitted her eyebrows together. "Lucas what's going on? You're kind of scaring me." The officer really didn't know how to tell her this, so instead he fumbled with his phone and slid it across the bucket seat. It started to sprinkle outside which was only fitting for the mood, Lucas felt like he could curse out Mother Nature right now. Although his eyes never left her. He sat there trying to figure her out. Trying to determine her reaction.

Her heart was visibly beating through her chest as her breathing became less steady. The officer watched her gulp and saw one lone tear drop land on her phone. "Look at me."

"No." Cold, emotionless and nothing like his Riley at all.

"Baby girl look at me!" His pointer and middle finger lift her chin and he is staring into the glossy eyes of his future wife. "Do you remember my promise?" She nods, "Say it."

"Yes."

"He's a fugitive with a known record for attempted murder and assault. I'm going to kill him, I'm a cop and he is a criminal. Who is the judge and jury going to believe?" Riley stayed silent as she pulled away from his grasp. "Besides who's going to listen to a dead man?"

"I am going to do it." She mumbles before ripping the keys out of his hand.

"No."

"I wasn't asking for permission Lucas." The roar of the diesel engine filled their ears and for the first time he realized he'd awoken a beast. "I need a plan."

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The entire ride home was them arguing over who was going to kill him. Because one thing is for sure, and that's something they both agreed on. Was that he had to go. For her safety, for her happiness. He should've been put in jail but since the officer couldn't trust the opinion of the jury any more than he can throw them all at once he wanted to take matters into his own hands. Not wanted, more like needed.

Riley insisted on driving the whole way home, she said it was a good way to relax her mind. Even though she'd occasionally start crying. Before they knew it they were sitting in the driveway of their new house and her brown orbs traced the brick, the roof, the huge tree in the front yard and her bay window. "Sweetheart."

"Hm." She shifts her gaze to his emerald eyes.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that," The brunette releases a small sigh, "that maybe we need to visit the old house occasionally. Until it sells at least."

"Are you going to tell me your plan?"

The dancer clicked her tongue a few times, "I'm going to kill Charlie Gardner." She hopped out of the driver's side and pulled the suit cases out of the back seat.

"Riley I won't let you do this. It's going to be me."

The brunette tousled her hair while she was laughing. "No. After everything he did to me did you honestly think that I wouldn't want to do the honors? Seriously?" Lucas knew that she would fight him on this but he didn't want her to have to live with the guilt he felt after the first time he shot somebody. That guy lived, but became paralyzed. "I'm tired of waiting for him to make a move. I'm tired of being scared all the time. If he's dead I can truly be able to breathe again. And what is the world with one less man like Charlie Gardner?"

"It's better. I understand that but you have no idea the wave of guilt you feel whenever you fire. I won't let you live with it." The officer turned her face to stare at him, "I won't." His thumb wipes a lone tear away and the jade eyed man was actually very impressed at how she was handling this. He had expected a lot worse. Of course, he should have known better. She forgave Charlie for what he did, and put it in God's hands. But sometimes I feel like God has it out for her, or God doesn't exist one. How could bad things keep happening to someone as amazing as Riley?

They stepped inside their new home and even though their life was a thunderstorm right now they had a gorgeous place to come home to, and to keep them dry from the rain. Riley's mom had been over that was apparent from the perfectly set up living room to the designed kitchen. The dancer knew she'd want to rearrange things but all in all she loved what her mom did. "Home." She whispered and inhaled deeply.

"What do you think future Mrs. Friar? Can you live here the rest of your life?"

The brunette giggled, "Are you going to be here?'

"Yes."

"Then that should answer your question." Riley saunters towards the bay window and curls up, looking as gorgeous as ever. His phone vibrated and he hurriedly pulled it out, begging for it to be the doctor.

 _Still on the lamb. We assume he is still in the area because of Riley. I will definitely keep you posted. My previous e-mail explains his escape and the gentleman he attacked died last night. Can I call you once I leave the office?_

I reply back with a hasty yes, interested to what he has to say. I inhale the aroma of our new home and take note that she still hasn't moved from that spot and he'd never been happier that he bought this house. His was about to be up for sale but he had an eerie suspicion that she wanted to use that for this plan. As far as Charlie knew she was still living there. "Hey Riley."

Her eyes shifted towards her fiancée. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to keep you safe sweetheart. That's a guarandamntee." She smiles and after a swift shake of her head stating she understood her focus was back outside. "I love you."

"I love you too." She needed a distraction so he sauntered towards the back door where their kids were going crazy. Hoss and Coal came barreling through their home. They hadn't seen Lucas or Riley all week and Coal especially was having withdrawals. As soon as she saw Coal her face lit up.

They ended up ordering pizza for dinner since they had no food and lots of laundry to do. Fast and Furious was on the TV and a glass of wine was in Riley's hand. "Hey handsome your phone is ringing." He practically jumped off the couch to get his vibrating phone and meandered into their bedroom.

 _Officer Friar?_

Yes.

 _This is Dr. Knicks, I wanted to speak to you about Charlie. I didn't want this documented for good reasons._

Okay? What is it?

 _As you know Charlie is still at large. As his psychiatrist I know what he's thinking and right now I'm talking to you as a father. As a husband and a concerned citizen._

Okay.

 _This never gets repeated and again I am not a doctor in the moment._

I understand. So what is it?

 _Shoot on sight._

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Thanks for reading.


	18. Chapter 17-Buy Me a Drink

**Chapter 17**

At first Lucas thought that the doctor wasn't serious. That this whole thing was a daydream and he'd wake up.

"I'm sorry can you just repeat what you said for me?"

 _I said to shoot on sight._

"I know this goes against patient confidentiality but I don't really give a damn and you said right now you aren't speaking to me as a doctor. So I need to know. What did he say in your sessions?"

Dr. Knicks releases a heavy sigh, clearly contemplating on what he wanted to do. The officer was about to interrupt his train of thought when he finally spoke up.

 _He truly believes Riley wants to be with him. Which is a normal thing for people with his condition. He has made a promise that they will be together forever and I do believe this is his way of keeping his promise._

The green eyed man inhaled heavily, Riley was his. And he had no intention of sharing.

"I'll keep her safe Dr. Knicks thank you for the advice."

He hung up the phone and meandered back into the living room. Riley had her hair up on top of her head and her fingers tapped against her lips as she contemplated where she wanted things to go in the kitchen. Lucas knew his fiancée was trying to distract herself from the real problem at hand and unfortunately he was going to have to talk to her. "Hey sweetheart."

"Yeah?" Her brown eyes tore away their gaze from the glasses to his smoldering green ones. "You okay?" The brunette reached out to caress his cheek.

"I'm as fine as I can be baby, but we need to discuss your safety."

Her smile slowly faded to a smirk, she hates this. Hell, he hated this almost as much. But it was her safety, it was her life and at the end of the day that was all that mattered. "I feel an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Except now we are together."

"I don't like remembering times when we weren't together." The officer replies with a grin, "I know you don't like this baby but I don't care. Even when we are out and about together I want your gun on you at all times. Hollow points preferably, and I need you to be very aware of your surroundings whenever you go out alone."

"What do you mean-"

"Actually," He cuts his fiancée off and expected to get yelled at later. "Just try not to leave the house at all until we catch him. I don't want you being followed and not realize it." The dancer dropped her head but agreed to do as he instructed, "That also means your job sweetheart. You'll have to put it off for a few days, when you get it back." The dancer clicked the home button on her phone again, hoping she didn't hear her phone go off, and she got the job. With no such luck. "We'll catch him soon."

"I sure as hell hope so." The dancer moved towards the refrigerator and opens a beer. "So I won't have to kill him." She mumbles with angst under her breath.

"I heard that."

"I wasn't trying to hide it." She says and moves toward the backyard, "I'm sorry I'm snapping at you baby. You've been nothing but sweet and helpful. I guess I'm just tired and stressed from everything."

Lucas nods lightly and takes her beer away to set it on the patio furniture. "I know a great way to relieve stress."

"Oh yeah?" The officer moved behind her and started to rub her shoulders. "Yup that'll do it."

"Would you like to break in the new house?"

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Lucas and Josh were back to work the next day, the relaxing 7 day cruise was replaced with anxiety, phone calls and Charlie Gardner. "Friar you need to chill out."

"No, I'm not going to chill out Matthews. I should be on that case."

Josh chuckled and sat down in his chair. "You're the reason you aren't on it anymore. You are out for blood and as a cop we can't be out for blood. We detain and bring them in, the judge and jury decide his fate. And stop pacing my damn office please." The green eyed man came to an abrupt halt and sat down in one of the chairs. "I'm just as anxious as you are, and just as scared."

His partner couldn't help but roll his eyes. She was his Riley, his everything and his future wife. In just a few days, 5 to be exact. "Then help me Josh, what do they know? Anything? Nothing? I would like a starting point to protect her."

Riley's uncle brought his bottom lip between his teeth. "They don't have much. He doesn't really have anyone here and he isn't going to leave because well, of Riley. Did she say if he had any friends or acquaintances? Or know where he might go?"

He shook his head abruptly. "No and I really don't think I want to ask her. She's stressed out and I can't say I blame her. Not to mention our honeymoon starts on Sunday, Paris is great whenever you aren't thinking about someone trying to kill you."

"We'll get him before then Friar. But if you can, just ask and see if she knows where he'd go to for help."

A light bulb went off, "Missy."

"What?"

"Let's go pay a little visit."

Lucas practically sprinted to the car with Josh on his heels. "You put a restraining order on her, not to mention she wasn't allowed to see him anymore, and he's a crazy killer do you honestly think she'd let him in her home?"

The officer got in the driver's seat and started the ignition. "Maybe not let him stay there but she'd definitely help him. Do me a favor have someone back at the precinct call and check to see if anyone in a 20 mile radius has checked into a hotel under the name Bradford, Missy?"

"Okay." A few minutes later they were pulling up to his ex-girlfriend's house. "I'll chill in here man, but I'll be here when you need me."

Lucas stepped out of the car and with force knocked on her door. She was home, her car was in the driveway and he could hear the TV, he knocked again. "Austin PD."

The door creaked open, "Lucas." She whispered with a smile, "What can I do for you?"

"Where's Charlie at?"

Her eyes narrowed, "I have no idea. I saw that on the news, that's too bad." Her voice, her tone, everything about her was pissing him off. "You are more than welcome to come inside and take a peek if you'd like." She bit her bottom lip and went to take his hand.

"I'll get my partner to do that with me then." He gestured towards the car and Josh hurriedly got out.

"You aren't going to find anything."

"For your sake I hope not." The green eyed man mumbled, "Aiding and embedding. Send you to jail for a few years." His eyes began to trail the home for any sign of him. "You are pretty Missy but you'll be someone's bitch pretty quick."

After 20 minutes of clearing the house and finding nothing they meandered back outside. "Thank you for your cooperation Ms. Bradford." Josh mumbled while walking back to the car.

"Told you, you wouldn't find anything. But if you, alone want to come inside and just double check, be my guest."

"No that's okay. I'll just wait for the phone call."

He spun on his heels to move back to the car when her question stopped him in his tracks. "What phone call?" Anxiety? Was that the tone she was trying to exude?

"Oh, well we're checking hotels under your name. Precautionary purposes you understand, since you were the one delivering the letters." Lucas craned his neck to see her, "He has no family around here, he moved to take the job and as you know he isn't leaving without Riley. Have a nice day."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 _Dear Ms. Matthews,_

 _We regret to inform you that your request to be reinstated as principal of John Adams High School has been denied. However, the position of Drill Team Director and Dance Instructor is being offered to you. Please let us know what your decision will be within one week._

Riley looked up from her phone and didn't know whether to be sad or mad, or happy. All of these emotions here lately were running together into one giant blur. Just like her eyesight, apparently sadness had won out. The brunette curled up on the couch and just sat there, reminiscing on moments that weren't quite as stressful. Never in a million years would she had thought she would have a stalker, that she'd be hospitalized and had a traumatic brain injury. Or that she'd be marrying the love of her life, man of her dreams or that she'd be set financially for the rest of her life. All of this, every single bit of it seemed more overwhelming now than she originally thought. "Dogs, outside."

The dancer reached for the door and as usual they took off in a race to get to the ball. Without even realizing what was happening or how she got there she was looking out the bay window. This had become her new favorite spot in the house, besides her fiancée's arms. It was her thinking spot, just like at her parent's house. When things were too hard, or when life kicks her while she was down she'd go to her window and sit. It always seemed as if her troubles would wash away.

But not so much anymore. The bay window could be broken, but in reality, the problems of high school were nothing like the problems that she was going through now. It wasn't as if Charlie would disappear like her bully did in high school because she finally got the courage to tell someone. Everyone knows about Charlie and yet he's still out there, waiting for her. She was sick and tired of being in a game, his game, where he had control over what was happening.

"Thank God for moving." She meandered into the kitchen and turned off the timer to check the rice and stir the pork chops that were in the crock pot.

"Peaches."

"In here Maya." Riley made a mental note to start locking the door again, quite unsure of how it was open in the first place. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Just wanted to check on you, how're you feeling?" The blonde took a seat across from her at the barstool. The dancer plastered a fake smile and nodded a couple times before reaching for some plates. "I have known you too long. Talk to me Riles, we've always been able to talk."

"Then why do I feel like it'd do no good?" The palms of her hand held her chin and she was propped up against the counter. "There are so many things going through my mind right now and I don't know what to do."

"You don't know if it will help until you try. So try me, talk to me that's why I'm here. Because I love you with all of my heart."

The brunette gave a sympathy grin and inhaled deeply before continuing. "I got the e-mail today, I am not being offered the position of principal but as a drill team and dance instructor. Which is fine, I honestly would love that, less stressful and I get to do what I love, dance. But, at the same time, why didn't I get my principal job back? What'd I do wrong? I know I'll probably never know but then I'm like, well do I want to go back to that school?"

"Of course you do. You love it there. And I really think you'd enjoy just being a dance instructor, you want to be there for your kiddos." Maya responded, while taking a bite of one of the pork chops, "The sauce needs salt."

Riley giggled but obliged and continued to talk while salting the sauce. "Then there's Charlie, I don't want to be a pawn in his game anymore. He doesn't see it as a game, but I do. It's like hide and seek and I'm terrified that he knows where I am, which thank the Lord he doesn't. I kind of want to just be like hey, I'm right here. I'll be at this place, at this time come and get me, then just bam shoot him in the face and be done with it."

The blonde laughed lightly but realized her best friend wasn't. "You're serious?"

"Yeah?" Why was that even a question, of course she was serious. "I want a plan, I'm going to kill Charlie Gardner I just don't know how to draw him out."

"Riley are you insane?"

She chuckled while taking a sip of her beer, "Yeah probably."

"You are going to get yourself hurt again, let the guys handle it. That's their job." The brunette shrugged her shoulders. "You aren't even listening to me are you?"

"Honestly, no. Because I'm not going to give him a chance to hurt me. Double tap that trigger and he's down before he can get close enough to me."

"WWJD?" Maya folded her hands together and rested them on the granite counters, "WWJD. What would Jesus do?"

Her brown eyes narrowed at her best friend. "I can ask for forgiveness later. Besides if something happened to me because I took your advice, Lucas would kill him and quite frankly I'd like to see him in heaven one day."

"You'll be in hell with me if you kill him."

Riley giggled, "Then buy me a drink."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 **Sorry that this chapter was a little tedious.**

 **But, big things are coming up.**

 **What do you think about Riley and Maya's last comments? Let me know what you think! Don't be a silent reader!**


	19. Chapter 18-Fine

"Hey baby." Lucas meandered into the kitchen and kissed her cheek, "Let me change real quick and wash up for dinner."

Riley nodded, "Okay."

He smiled and stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong?"

"Go change baby. I'll make us some plates and we'll talk at dinner." The brunette opened 2 beers and set them on coasters on the dining room table as her fiancée sauntered into their master bedroom. After fixing the plates she carried them to the table right as the officer was sitting down.

"Wow that smells pretty damn incredible." She giggled lightly and felt him yank her into his lap, "Now." His lips touched her bare shoulder, "tell me what's going on? You have your thinking face on, and your eyes look sad. My least favorite thing in this entire world, so tell me."

The dancer chuckled lightly, "You know me to well."

"Thank you. I'm assuming you got the e-mail?"

"Yeah," She agreed with a smile, "I got offered the position of dance instructor and drill team director but not as principal."

He narrowed his emerald eyes trying to determine if that was a good thing or not. "You're wondering why you didn't get your original position back?"

"You are good. Yes, I loved being principal but at the same time I applied for the raise. You know and I don't mean to sound like a gold digger but money isn't a huge issue for me anymore." His large arms snaked around her waist. "I actually might enjoy going back to my original position as just a dance teacher." Lucas agreed but didn't say anything because he knew there was more. "I don't want to start back up there until Charlie is gone."

There it was. "I know baby. I promise you I'm doing everything I can possibly think of, I've got someone doing a little research-"

"Lucas, I know you're doing everything you can but you and I both know that he's not going to come out of hiding until he has a reason." The brunette bit her lip in hopes he would understand what she was saying. She admitted it may not be the best idea, to be bait. Especially since they were getting married on Saturday. But, it was only logical.

He chuckled lightly and it disappeared quickly when his jaw clenched. "No."

"Lucas-"

"NO!" He snapped and looked towards the ground. "It isn't up for discussion."

Riley rose from his lap and tousled her hair. "Yes it is. Because it is my life, he is my stalker and ultimately it is my decision."

"I'm your husband, I get a decision on this too."

"I love those words, but technically if you want to get real technical-"

"Riley, the answer is no."

She bit her lip to hold back the words that were fumbling through her brain. "You are so stubborn! You have no freaking idea what goes through my mind. I'm scared to open a freaking closet!" She lifted her oversized tank and showed her glock. "This! This is what I will have to do every single moment of every single day because he's out there." The officer rubbed his face and avoided eye contact. "Charlie may be crazy when it comes to me, but in reality he's smart. He isn't going to be roaming the streets unless he has a reason to." She tossed her arms up in the air, "I'm his reason!"

He rose from his seat, "The answer is no."

"WHY? Why? I can end this Lucas, we can get married and not have to worry about Charlie, I won't have to constantly be looking over my shoulder. Don't you want that for me?"

Lucas scoffed and stared into her eyes. "OF COURSE I DO!" His tone wasn't harsh, or rude. However it was stern, the unwavering sense of determination in his voice was apparent to Riley. "You want to know why I'm not going to let you do this? Because I found your lifeless body lying on your floor with Charlie standing over you! Because I watched you get wheeled into the ambulance, then again into surgery." He inhaled deeply as if he was trying to calm down. "Because I spent days wondering if you'd wake up! And when you woke up, thank you God, those 13 minutes. Yes I counted. Those 13 minutes of us waiting to go see you felt like agonizing hours! I had to watch you be in pain, I had to watch you be self-conscious, and see the bruises. Do you realize how incredibly difficult that is?"

Riley shook her head. "No, I don't." She can only imagine how she'd feel if something happened to Lucas on the job. How she would react if roles were reversed, but hoping to God she'd never have to.

"It was excruciating Riley. Seeing the woman I love with everything inside of me go through something like that, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy." He disregarded the fact that he in fact would wish it on Charlie, and probably Missy. "So that's why. That is why I'm telling you no. Because I refuse to even risk losing you again. Because you are mine and you aren't going anywhere. I've waited my entire life to find my soulmate, I found her. I thought I lost her and I'll be damned if I ever, and I mean ever let you slip through my fingers again."

Lucas cupped Riley's face and flicked the tears away with his thumb. "I know this is hard Riley. I don't like you feeling this way. I don't want you to constantly have to worry about your safety but I'm not changing my mind. I'm sorry." His lips touched her forehead and he removed the holster from her hip. "I'm here."

Riley couldn't help but feel, angry. Everything he said made sense which only made her frustrations grow. She hated being wrong, and in this situation with the words he just spoke Lucas was right. She knew she shouldn't do this, but she'll just have to do it when he's not around. "Fine."

"Thank you sweetheart." His arms enveloped her and immediate guilt rushed through her body. "I'm going to send an officer over here to watch you during the day."

Plan ruined. "Why?" She leaned away from his chest and furrowed her brows.

"Because I know you. I know you're stubborn and I don't want you to do anything stupid."

She narrowed her eyes, "I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"Good." He responded instantly. "Then you won't mind a little extra security then so you won't have to worry so much about your safety." Lucas took note of how incredibly annoyed she was. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and if he hadn't already made it abundantly clear that she was not going to do this his next actions did. "Don't make me do this Riley."

"Do what?" She spat.

"I'll go on full lock down."

The brunette laughed maniacally and grit her teeth. "Lock down? Do tell."

"I'll know your every move Riley."

Riley pushed him off her and sat at the dinner table trying to keep her tongue quiet. Until she couldn't anymore. As soon as he sat down at the table he got an earful. "WHY AM I BEING TREATED LIKE A PRISONER? I DIDN'T DO A DAMN THING WRONG!"

"I'm not treating you like a prisoner. You are my wife and I am not going to let you put yourself in danger, you can be pissed all you want about it, you can yell at me, you can hit me and I don't really care because I care that you're alive and that you're safe. I'd rather ask for forgiveness later than ask for permission now."

Her blood was boiling. Literally she felt as if she had a fever. "He's the one who tried to kill me and raped me and I am the one who has to have a babysitter."

"Because I know you are going to go against what I say."

"Didn't realize we were back in the 50's and I'm Betty freaking Crocker." She spat, "As you wish oh dear husband."

"Damn it Riley. STOP!" He dropped his fork and the brunette took note of how upset he was getting. "I am Officer Friar right now, and your husband."

Riley leaned back in her chair, "As my future husband then you have to trust me."

"I do."

"No you don't." She replied, "I get the circumstances and seriousness of the entire situation. I've lived it! And I'm sick and tired of it. I've been a player in his game for far too long and I want to live life. I am not asking for permission anymore. You can help me to keep me safer, or-"

"You're being serious right now?" His eyes darkened and his fists clenched.

She bit her lip and agreed. "I have to do some stuff for the wedding anyways. I am going to be out and about around town so either way he could find me. I wanted your help because I know you will do anything to keep me safe, but I don't need it. It's my life and I'm taking it back."

The rest of the dinner was silent. He'd make occasional glances at his fiancée who was trying to avoid his gaze at all cost. Lucas would separate his lips as if he was about to say something but would quickly shut it and carry on with eating. Riley grabbed both plates and after rinsing placed them in the dishwasher. "I love you Lucas. I'm sorry that my decision isn't something you agree with."

"It isn't just something I disagree with. It is something I'm terrified of Riley! I wasn't there last time, I promised you last time that you'd be safe and I failed. I can't-I can't fail you again."

"You never failed me!" The dancer meandered back to the dining room table. "You saved me! Whether or not that's what you believe doesn't matter because to me you are my hero."

His lips tugged for him to smile but quickly retreated back to a vacant expression. "What you're doing Riley, is putting me through unnecessary pain. Unnecessary worry, you are asking me to relive the worst time of my life." She quickly tried to interrupt but he continued to speak over her, "You may not realize that's what you're doing but it is. Think about me in the hospital Riley."

"I don't-"

"Do it. If I got shot and had to go through surgery and didn't wake up for days what would, what would you feel?" Her eyes were already starting to become watery. The mere idea of her possibly losing him made her heart burst. "Would you want me to go back in the line of duty? Would you want me to risk my life again?"

"No-"The brunette closed her eyes and inhaled realizing exactly what he did.

"Exactly." Lucas rose from his chair and kissed her head. "I love you too Riley. Are you still planning on doing this?" Her chestnut eyes shifted upwards to stare into his, "Alright. Well, let me make a few phone calls. You'll be having a baby sitter the next few days and Maya can do the wedding stuff." He trudged into their bedroom and started the shower.

"LUCAS!"

"NO! I WILL NOT RISK LOSING YOU AGAIN!" He shouted and even though the dancer should have been scared she wasn't. This was purely out of love, this whole argument was out of love. They were both being selfish and she didn't want to admit he was right.

Either way this had to happen.

"FINE!" The brunette inhaled and exhaled, "Fine. You can put a baby sitter on me, but I'm going to do my own wedding stuff. This is my one and only wedding and I am going to handle it."

The green eyed man lifted his head and glanced at her. "I know you hate me-"

"I don't hate you." She interrupted, "I just want this to be over with. I have no doubt you are trying everything possible to find him. But no one figured out who it was 2 years ago. Or who broke into my apartment days before he attacked me. You are an amazing cop, and I am so proud to call you my future husband. But, you have to understand my worry."

The officer nodded his head slightly, in agreement and opened up his arms. "Come here." He whispered, "Riley I am sorry that I've yelled at you tonight." Her arms wrapped around his waist as she inhaled deeply. "But I'm not sorry about keeping you safe. You have no idea how much I love you, you are my world so please let us handle it." The brunette cupped the nape of his neck with her left hand and pressed her lips against his. You think she would have gotten used to those damn butterflies by now, but no. As their lips continued to move in sync, and as his tongue explored the caverns of her mouth surges of electricity and butterflies ran through her body.

"I love you Riley."

"I love you too Lucas."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

Riley woke up on Thursday morning and knew Lucas was already gone. He had kissed her goodbye and said he loved her, and said to be nice to the man who was watching her today. The brunette giggled and agreed before letting sleep overtake her again. But now that the sun was shining through the windows she was up for the day.

The past few days were boring to say the least, she was really doing anything and everything to make herself known around town.

To be seen.

Hopefully today he'd come out of hiding.

The brunette glanced at her phone and after some hesitation went to her e-mail. She had yet to respond back about the position but she couldn't wait anymore.

 _To: Superintendent Harvey_

 _From: Ms. Riley Matthews_

 _Superintendent Harvey,_

 _I would like to thank you for the opportunity to state my case at the last meeting. I would also like to thank you for offering me the position of drill team director/dance instructor. After some thought and serious questioning, I have decided to take the position. I greatly appreciate your offer and am forward to working with you._

 _I will not be able to start my job until a week from this upcoming Monday because of my honeymoon._

 _Thank you again for the opportunity to work with these wonderful kids._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Riley Matthews_

After reading the e-mail several times she clicked send and a weight lifted off her shoulders. As she inhaled a smile overcame her face. After getting ready she put the pocket knife in her back jean pocket and holstered the gun her cardigan covered up.

There was still one more weight that needed to go.

Today, that weight was going to be removed.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 **Let me know what you think! Don't be a silent reader!**

 **I promise you guys I'm updating as much as my brain will allow! Lol.**

 **I have lots of ideas of where I want this story to go and I'm writing several ideas of the same chapter. I'll re-read them over and over and whichever one I like the most is the one I'll post. I didn't forget about this story I swear!**


	20. Chapter 19-The Plan

**Chapter 19**

Riley slipped on her sunglasses and her cowboy boots before ensuring she had extra bullets in her purse. The officer was already waiting out of his car when she stepped outside. "Morning Mrs. Friar." Her eyes rolled, Lucas was enjoying having the babysitter's call her that.

"You can call me Riley." She dug through her purse and yanked out her CHL and passed it to him and showed her weapon.

"You can call me Michael. Heard you sent the other officers running for the hills." He joked while passing her the license.

The brunette shrugged her shoulders. "You know I'm getting married in 2 days, and I have a stalker out there who's trying to kill me but that wouldn't make me irritable would it?"

"No definitely not." She laughed lightly and came to the conclusion that she enjoyed this man over the other two who had treated her like nothing was happening. "I get this is difficult and I'm sorry this is happening to you."

"Not your fault. Have you talked to my future husband lately?"

"Nope but I'm supposed to give him your whereabouts wherever we go."

Her brown eyes widened as she pulled out her keys. "Sounds about right. Thank you, I'll just be going to the venue, and a few other places to make final payments."

"I will be following you."

Creepy sounding but he didn't mean it that way. He meant that he wouldn't be riding in the car with her. As soon as Riley got into the car she dials Lucas.

 _Morning beautiful._

Hello sir.

 _Uh oh, you've met the new babysitter._

How'd you know?

 _Well you're mad at me. That pretty much gave it away._

Look at you, you're catching on. I don't need an escort babe.

 _I know sweetheart but you're going to have one because you love me so much and it eases my worry._

I'm preferring Michael over you right now.

 _No ma'am don't you do that. Take it back._

Nope sorry. No can do.

 _You'll regret that later._

Will I?

 _I will be sending female officers from now on._

Kidding. I prefer him over the other ones, but I just wanted to say I'm out and about and I love you.

 _I love you too and Michael will keep me notified of your whereabouts._

After they said their goodbye's Riley hung up the phone and drove off to the venue. Her eyes constantly glancing at the cars around her. From the side mirror to the rearview mirror and to the side mirror again hoping she'd find a car that was following her. Nothing yet. But it was still early.

"Please Lord, bring him to me." Her brows furrowed. She never thought she'd ask God to bring Charlie out of the woodworks and even though she asked it wasn't going to happen. From what she was taught God wouldn't bring a man out of hiding so she could kill him. "Shame."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

There had been several cars that she kept an eye on, but they all came up as nothing. It was pure coincidence they were heading in that same direction. Seeing as she only had one place to go after the flower shop she was getting nervous. Even Michael who was behind her was in plain clothes and had an unmarked car. Though it wasn't like he was hiding the fact he was following her.

Tomorrow was the rehearsal dinner and bachelorette party. Lucas had tried to get her to cancel the bachelorette party but of course that wasn't going to happen. Maya was in charge of that and she said, 'I'll be damned if Riley Matthews is going to miss out on the bachelorette party.' After a ton of coercing and promises to wear a gun as well as Maya carrying a knife and pepper spray the officer agreed with reluctance.

It still hadn't quite hit her that she was getting married in 2 days. Her mind had been elsewhere as of late. Searches for hotels under Bradford and Gardner had come up clean but then she bit her bottom lip as an idea came to her.

 _Hey beautiful everything okay?_

Do me a favor. Do another hotel search under Harvey.

 _The superintendent?_

He'd do anything for Missy. Right?

 _I'll get it taken care of baby. Be safe okay. I love you._

I love you too.

Michael followed her into the flower shop even though they were there for a matter of minutes. The dancer wrote a check and after confirming the order she sauntered back outside. "Never realized how much detail went into flowers."

The brunette giggled and agreed. "Yeah, I would have been okay with a simple wedding but you know Lucas. He's pretty stubborn."

"Funny, he says that about you."

Her brown orbs rolled. "Yeah I'm stubborn." Okay in this instance she was, but Riley acknowledged that this was a completely different scenario. "One last stop, then food then I'll be home."

"Sounds great." He jogs to his car as she opens the door to her jeep. As soon as the ignition turned on she rolled up the windows and blasted the air conditioner. That's when she saw a piece of torn paper laying in her passenger seat.

"Hello Charlie." He must've slid it through the cracked windows.

 _If you want to be with me lose your tail and I'll follow you to wherever you want._

Nerves overwhelmed her, but she played it cool. As far as he knows she wants to be with him, he won't be expecting anything. Nerves overwhelmed her it was true, but determination soon washed over her body.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

This is Friar.

 _Officer Friar there is a room rented out under William Harvey._

Send me the information. I'll get a team.

As quickly as Lucas answered the phone call he ended it and found Josh. "Matthews, we have a hotel room lead. I'm going to grab Sims and Bishop and we'll go pay a little visit."

Josh promptly rose from his desk, "I got Sims."

"I got Bishop. Meet you by the car in 5." A wave of relief entered his body. He was going to get the man who had so often ruined his fiancée's life. Lucas strapped on his bulletproof vest and turned towards his friends, the men he considered to be the best in the force. "Look, this isn't just a case for me. It's personal, you all know that. Be careful, and for my wife's sake let's catch this son of a bitch. But, shoot to kill wouldn't be terrible either." Josh, being the best driver took the wheel and drove to Holiday Inn Suites.

Luckily the hotel itself was only 10 minutes away. The green eyed man approached the front desk, "Good afternoon, Officer Friar Austin PD. I need you to call everyone on the 3rd floor and tell them to stay barricaded in their rooms, everyone except room 308. Tell them there is an unruly guest and it isn't safe. I also need a key to room 308." The receptionist stood frozen when a manager approached.

"Do as he asks." The receptionist nodded and made a copy key for the room and promptly started calling guests. "Is everything okay officers?"

"I'm hoping so." Lucas mumbles, "Have you seen this man running around here." He slid a picture on the counter and pulls it away when the manager nods. He shifts his face to Josh and whispers, "He's staying here. Call for backup to guard the exits."

"Should I be worried?"

"How many exits do you have?"

The manager again furrowed her brows and pulled out a hotel map. "There's the stairway exit, the exit from the kitchen, 2 fire exit doors and then the front." The officer studied the map and passed it to Sims.

"You 3 are staying with me. But we need at least 2 officers on every door. 8 at least. I'll be okay with more." He whispers and turns back towards the manager, and the receptionist has now joined them again. "Did you call everyone?'

"Yes sir."

Lucas nods lightly and snatches the key. He doesn't say anything, he can't make more of a scene than necessary. Him and 3 other officers wearing bullet proof vests was already out of the ordinary. If the green eyed man wanted to keep his attendance in the hotel quiet he couldn't empty the hotel.

Within minutes backup had arrived and the 4 officers crept up the stairs, guns drawn and safety off. Lucas was currently thanking God the love of his life was so damn smart. Sims cracked the door and inspected the hallway, after giving the all clear they creep towards room 308. The officer gestured towards Bishop and after a head nod he knocks on the door. "Housekeeping."

No answer.

Bishop tries again with no luck. Josh grabs the key while Lucas has his hand on the door handle. Once they received the green light, literally, the door is flung open. "POLICE!"

"BATHROOM CLEAR!"

"CLOSET CLEAR!"

Josh and Lucas give a knowing glance after seeing the bed. With one quick motion they both looked under the bed. "CLEAR!" Josh exclaims.

"SHIT!" The green eyed man took a seat at the desk and ran his hands through his hair. "Sims, go downstairs. Tell the manager to call me if she sees him. Bishop, keep a plain clothes officer here to watch exits." He leans back in the chair while Josh looks around the room.

His eyes shift to the left on the table. There were several pictures of Riley, which was to be expected but these were recent. She wore that outfit yesterday. "Shit." He picked up a piece of paper, there was a picture of a jeep and a jumble of letters and numbers in the corner. "This is her car. This is her license plate number."

Almost instantly his phone started to ring.

This is Friar.

 _I lost her._

WHAT?!

 _She ran a yellow light that switched red and drove away. I didn't have my lights I lost her._

Son of a bitch.

He hung up the phone and raced downstairs. "Josh your niece is going to be the death of me."

"What happened?"

"She's ditched the tail and going to kill Charlie Gardner. She knows where he is at."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

Riley sat in her old house that Lucas and her shared. She silenced her phone after the fourth time that Lucas called. She can only imagine the hell he's going through right now, scratch that, she can't imagine what he's feeling and wouldn't be surprised if he didn't want to marry her anymore.

But the brunette couldn't focus on that right now. Right now, it was kill or be killed and she only had herself to blame. She couldn't have the gun drawn when he walked in or he'd run. She didn't want to risk hitting civilians but as soon as that door was closed she was going to shoot. No talking, no mistakes.

Her eyes moved from the living room, to the dining room and back to where she stood. This house held so many great memories and this was going to add to them. Riley never in a million years thought she'd relish at the idea of killing another human being. But she also never thought she'd be raped, have a stalker, or almost die. Seems like her plans to grow up and be a princess didn't quite pan out. It was eerily quiet so when there were footsteps approaching it was noticeable.

So was her heart beat. She was extremely scared. The door opened and there he stood. It was like he moved in slow motion. His hair was shaggy but he managed to have a clean face, his once gorgeous blue eyes were nothing but crazy now, and the dark circles around them made it evident he hadn't gotten much sleep. "You found me." Her voice was shakier than she intended for it to be.

"Of course I did. I love you Riley."

She found herself wishing for him to shut the door. "I can't believe you came."

"You still look as beautiful as ever. Your hair is shorter." _Because of you._ "Come we have to go. I'm sure the man holding you hostage has a tracker on your car."

"That's why my car is a few blocks over and my GPS is off on my phone." She was lying, about the phone of course. However she couldn't lie about her car. "Come in," The brown eyed woman gulped at her next statement, "Kiss me."

"Oh Riley. Do you know how long I've wanted to hear you say that?"

"I didn't realize, h-how much you cared about me. I was foolish and naïve." _Please shut the door._ Her mind was wandering and was now thinking he knew if he shut the door, he'd die.

"I will never make you question my feelings for you again." His arm pushed the door and he took a stride towards her. The front door slammed shut and she instantly pulled her 45 Warthog. He froze in his tracks but before he got a chance to register what was happening she said,

"Sorry Charlie." Riley pulled the trigger and shot him twice. Once in the chest and the other in his forehead. The brunette didn't move, she watched him fall to the ground and land with a thud.

 _I just killed a man. I just killed someone. Wait, no I just killed Charlie. I don't need to feel bad. He was going to kidnap me and worse. I did what was necessary. Kill or be killed that was this situation._

After several minutes and him not moving she meandered outside and called 911. She couldn't face Lucas, not yet.

 _911 where is your emergency?_

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **Were you happy with the way Charlie died?**

 **How pissed do you think Lucas will be? Let me know!**


	21. Chapter 20-Honest is the Best Policy

**Stronger language than normal in this chapter.**

 **Also there is lots of dialogue. Just a heads up.**

 **Chapter 20**

Riley's eyelids fluttered open when she heard someone yelling from down the hall. "GET THOSE FUCKING CUFFS OFF OF HER NOW!"

"Lucas." She whispered. The brunette wasn't sure yet if she was ready to face him. The story for him, and the story she told to the first responders were going to be 2 different ones. That's when it hit her, "I just killed someone."

Lucas was fiddling with the door handle, but it was locked. "Baby I'm going to get you out. SHE DOESN'T NEED TO BE IN THERE!"

Sadness, or guilt, or even regret should probably be the main emotion she was feeling but it wasn't. She felt different, watching a man-no matter what he'd done-die in front of her eyes, and more than that she was the cause of it, would definitely do that. It was late, and the only reason she knew that was because it was dark outside. Apparently the officers who responded to the scene weren't familiar with the Charlie Gardner incident.

Though she was unsure of how that was even possible, every cop was supposed to be on the lookout for his face and be familiar with the case. Well, according to her fiancée. The sound of the door opening yanked her out of her thoughts. "Baby." Riley rose from the chair and fell into Lucas' chest. "I'm so sorry you're in here. You don't need to be. They're getting the keys right now."

"Luc-"

"Why didn't you call me?!" The worry and sadness in his voice was apparent and tore her up. "I was so fucking scared Riley." His lips pressed against her temple, it was evident he was scared. She could feel his entire body shake, but that could very well have been from anger. "I love you so damn much." The officer leaned back and cupped her face, her tear stained face. But if she was being honest, she wasn't sure why she was crying. "Are you okay sweetheart? Please, God tell me you're okay?"

"I'm okay baby." Right then Josh came in with the keys and took off the cuffs.

"Why did you run off niece? God damn you are going to be the death of us."

She had her own story for Lucas. But, it wasn't the place. "I didn't run off."

"It doesn't matter." The green eyed man pulled her back into his chest and kissed her head several times. "I'm so happy you're safe. I was so scared sweetheart."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do after _that_ happened."

Josh cleared his throat. "I hate to break up this moment but they want to record her statement."

"I thought I already gave a statement?" Her eyebrows knit together in confusion. She had told the dispatcher over the phone, and then to the first cop who arrived. More than anything she wanted to sleep, hence why she had fallen asleep in the chair.

"The chief wants it recorded. Then you can go home."

Her brown orbs lifted to her fiancée who had obviously been crying. His eyes were red and there was a small stain that she hastily wiped away. "Alright. Let's do this."

A few weeks ago if you had told her that this was how her wedding week would go, she may have laughed in your face. But, even right now it all felt like a dream. Riley hardly remembered getting cuffed, and getting into the cop car. All of it was overwhelming and she was unsure of what to do, what to feel, and more importantly what to say.

Her entire story wasn't fabricated, in fact it stuck rather closely to the truth and she only left out a few important details. However, the more she told it, the more chances she takes at getting it wrong. "Right in here Ms. Matthews."

Her grip on Lucas lessened, "I'm staying."

"Officer Friar, as your chief I am ordering you to leave. This is already an emotional subject for her and you are clearly flustered. To put it nicely."

"I'll be waiting for you sweetheart okay? I'll be right outside." His lips pressed against hers and with reluctance he left her in the room.

"So Ms. Matthews I'm going to ask you some questions and after that you can tell your story. Sound fair?" The dancer simply nodded in agreement and folded her hands on the steel table. "So, you shot him twice?"

"Yes."

"Why?" He questioned.

"When I took my CHL class, they taught double tap." She gulped and chills were sent up her spine. Even whenever she took that class there was always a large part of her that was so sure she'd never have to use it.

"Why did you go to the house?"

"A lot was changing for me. A lot of great things happened in that house and before it went up for sale, before I got married and went on my honeymoon I wanted to say goodbye." That was a lie. Though, she probably would have visited there eventually.

"Mhm, and why were you out and about when you knew Charlie was on the loose?"

"This is my first and only wedding. I wanted to be involved in it, and with Lucas' tail he put on me I felt safe." Why does that matter to him?

"And you shook the tail?" He questioned with angst in his voice.

"That wasn't my intention if that's what your insinuating." She replied surprising them both at how calm she was. "I was going 50 and when the light turned yellow I was in that awkward position of if I stop then someone might rear end me or I'll hit my head on the steering wheel so I drove."

"And you didn't stop because?"

The brunette knew it was his job and even though he was right to be suspicious of her, she was surprised to have all this questioning for someone as crazy as Charlie Gardner. "To be honest, I was angry about having someone follow me around. My fiancée and I, Lucas, we got into an argument about it actually and I was very much annoyed because I felt like I was the one being punished. Having to constantly wear a gun, having someone follow me, moving and possibly finding a new job. Always look over my shoulder. All of it was, aggravating."

His face was very much stern, but he gave nothing away. "You wanted to do something with that aggravation didn't you?"

"Wouldn't you?" Her anger was bubbling to the surface, "Being raped, and almost killed by someone you thought was completely harmless."

"So you killed him? Did you plan it?"

The door swung open. "Okay that's enough."

Lucas grabbed her arm and stared down his boss. But, she gently pushed him away. "If you are asking me if I went to my old home knowing he'd show up and I'd kill him than you're wrong." He isn't but that was beside the point. "I had no idea he was following me and neither did the gentleman that was tailing me or he would have told me. Brought me somewhere safer. So to answer your question, no I didn't plan it. But that doesn't mean I don't feel relieved from the outcome."

The chief smirked, "So you're happy about the outcome?"

"Don't twist her words-"

"Lucas it's okay baby." She gave him a reassuring smile, "Being relieved and being happy are 2 different things. I'm not checking over my shoulder every 5 seconds even when I'm at home and I don't have to worry about him kidnapping me. I'm not happy about killing someone, I don't think it's really set in yet what exactly I did. But, I did it to keep me safe. I'm relieved."

His eyes softened. "I heard all I've needed to hear. Thank you Riley."

"Wait," He stopped at the door and turned around, "Don't I need to give you my story?"

"No." Lucas shook his head, "you were testing her reaction weren't you?"

The door shut again and he cut off the recorder. "I know it was self-defense Riley. I don't give a damn honestly whether you planned to kill him or not, you did it to keep you safe and we have the written statement."

With that he left the engaged couple alone completely dumbfounded. "So, did he just say that whether I planned it or not, it was self-defense?"

"He's always so cryptic." The officer tightened his grip and pulled her back into his chest. "Riley you scared the hell out of me. I had no idea where you were for an hour. A fucking hour Riley. All I could picture was you back in the damn hospital bed." She clutched onto his black tee shirt and inhaled his earthy cologne. "I thought I had lost you."

"I'm right here Lucas. I'm safe, and he's gone."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

The drive home was silent, they entered their house silently and they each took a shower silently. Occasionally Lucas would randomly pull her into his arms, or crash his lips against hers, though the outcome of today was positive. He couldn't get the possibility of her being gone out of his head, kidnapped or worse.

And Riley, she couldn't get the words 'he's gone' out of her head. For what seems like a lifetime-since the night she was assaulted-she had wanted to hear those words. Riley crossed her legs on their bed and inhaled deeply. "Lucas."

"Yeah baby? Do you need anything?"

She smiled lightly and disagreed. "No, I'm really not hurt I swear." The green eyed man crawled beside her. "I have to tell you the truth."

His brows furrowed. "Truth?" He whispered.

"I knew he'd be there."

His jaw clenched and he averted his gaze. "Spill. Now."

"Fair enough." The brunette tousled her hair and turned her body towards him. "I cracked my window because it was warm and when I came back out from the flower shop there was a note that he must've slipped through the window. 'If you want to be with me lose your tail and I'll follow you wherever you want'."

"DAMN IT RILEY!"

The brown eyed girl gulped and played with her comforter. She expected this reaction and if she allowed herself to be honest, she deserved it. The dancer didn't realize how much hell she had unknowingly put him through. "Let it out."

"I WILL!" The officer threw the blanket off of him and began to pace the bedroom. "You-YOU RISKED YOUR DAMN LIFE!" No matter what he did, the anger inside of him was overflowing. But one look into her eyes at least lowered the level of his voice. "You didn't even think it through. What if he didn't come in through the front door? What if he came in with a gun too? You ran in there without even thinking about me." He took several shallow breaths and his eyes glassed over. "Do you not even care about me? About us Riley?"

Her lips separated. "Of course I do. Don't even think that."

"Then why risk your life? Do you not realize how much I love you?" He rubbed his eyes hoping to get rid of the tears but they resurfaced just as fast. "I could have fucking lost you Riley. I asked you, I asked you not to do this. That was your whole plan wasn't it?! You ran around all week this week to make yourself known, you did shake the tail and you planned to kill him."

"Yes." There was no hesitation, no wavering in her voice and the green eyed man didn't know if he should be scared or not.

"I couldn't care less that he's gone. He hurt my wife and he deserved what he got. What I am mad about-No furious about is the fact that you didn't think twice about me when you went in there. We are getting married in 2 days Riley. 2 days. Is this how it's going to be in our marriage? Because I don't want it if we can't respect what the other wants, our marriage won't work. 2 days, and your lack of respect for what I asked is astounding."

Her brows furrowed. "I could say the same thing Lucas." Her emotions were a mixture of sadness and anger.

"What?!" His arms crossed over his chest, "What did you say?"

"I said that you didn't respect what I wanted either. I wanted to be safe, and as long as he was around I wasn't. I love you and I love the fact you are so protective over me. And yes, I went into our old home being completely selfish because for once in my GOD DAMN LIFE I WAS BEING SELFISH!" She rose off the bed and stomped towards him. "I'm so sorry that I scared you, and that I hurt you but I'm not sorry for what I did. I can't bring myself to regret the decisions that I've made. I was selfish today, and yes a million things could have gone wrong but I'm here.

I'm here, I'm safe and I love you. And I'm so sorry I scared you today. I'm so sorry." Her chin began to tremble and his strong arms wrapped around her. "I'm sorry Lucas. I will seriously be Betty freaking Crocker, and a 1950's housewife for the rest of my life just please don't leave me."

He chuckled lightly through his tears and kissed her head. "I'm not going to leave you Riley. I love your stubborn ass too much."

"I lied in my statement, I know I lied." She whispered, "But I couldn't lie to you Lucas. I couldn't not tell you the truth about today. I don't want our marriage to start off like that."

"I don't care about you lying sweetheart." He kissed her temple again. "I just care about your life, please don't do something so stupid and reckless and irresponsible again. You're going to give me a heart attack before I hit 30." They stood in silence, hugging each other and neither of them wanted to let go. "I wish you would have let me do it. You didn't need that burden."

She buried her face in the crook of his neck. "I know. I'm not sure how I feel about what I did. I think I'm kind of numb, if it was some random person I would be more upset about it. But, he's done so much bad. He did so much to me, and then killed people to get to me."

"That's a normal feeling sweetheart." Lucas lifted her off the ground and laid her in the bed. "First man I shot, he had a total of 5 hostages and killed 2 of them already." Her eyes widened, "I was on the force for 8 months when I went out for a domestic violence call. Josh and I got there and we got information about it being a hostage situation so a few other units responded. I crept into the backyard with Josh while they distracted him in the front."

"I thought those situations included like negotiators and what not?"

"They do, sometimes. Depends on the amount of hostages, the severity and what it is he wants. This guy was just drunk and out of his damn mind. He wasn't even using a gun." I remember the light blue curtains that were being pushed in the wind, I was lucky the window was open or else I couldn't have gotten a clear shot. He was screaming something at the door and I saw a woman and a teenager lying in a pool of blood on the floor. I fired, twice. I wasn't sure how to feel about it. I still am not really sure because that was his wife and kids." Riley caressed his cheek and he fell into her embrace. "I understand the confusion you're feeling, but please if you need to talk to anyone or-"

"I'll tell you." The brunette whispered. "I'm sorry for everything today."

"It's okay beautiful." His lips crashed against hers, continually moving in sync with one another. "No sex tonight, that's your punishment."

She giggled and nodded. "But isn't that a punishment for you too?"

"I just want to hold you tonight sweetheart. I thought I lost you today, and I just want to hold you and love the crap out of you."

"Please do."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 **Don't be a silent reader.**

 **Let me know what you think.**

 **Their wedding day is coming soon! WOOHOO!**


	22. Chapter 22-NO STRIP CLUBS!

**Chapter 21**

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That's a relative term, just like the word 'monster' to a canary is a cat, it just depends on the person. Riley would say that everything she has been through has made her stronger and she'd be telling the truth. She'd been through hell and back because of one person, Charlie Gardner. She'd had dreams about him before, nightmares to be more specific. 2 years ago she didn't know it was Charlie but that didn't prevent her from waking up crying. After he put her in a hospital she had nightmares about him trying to kill her and kidnap her. Having a nightmare about Charlie the night after she shot him was something she was expecting.

Lucas in fact, was prepared for that. He stayed up and watched his fiancée's chest rise and collapse with every steady breath as she rested against his chest. The officer was prepared to wake her up at a moment's notice and tell her everything will be alright and that he's gone. Those 2 words sounded extremely foreign because that's all he'd been able to think about since he found out about what happened to Riley. As an officer he knew the risk Charlie Gardner was to not just the love of his life but to the world, but that didn't comfort him in knowing it was Riley who pulled the trigger.

That was probably his biggest regret, letting her pull that trigger. The green eyed man had trained for it, he knew how to handle it when he had to take a life, but she wasn't. She was innocent and pure and perfect in every way. She is still perfect and pure, and when used loosely the term innocent could be used to describe her also, but when she woke up this morning there was a strong suspicion it was all going to hit her hard.

Riley had killed Charlie, but the world was a better place with one less Charlie Gardner.

By the time 3 o'clock came around and the brown eyed girl was still sleeping soundly on his chest Lucas decided to let sleep overcome him. Tonight was the rehearsal dinner and bachelor party and the next day was the day he would begin the rest of his life. The day he'd marry the woman who had stolen his heart and made his life better in every single way. Even when she's running rampant and driving him insane. He needed to sleep.

Especially after yesterday.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

By the time he fluttered his eyelids opened the sun was shining through the wooden blinds in their bedroom and again he had to remind himself that they had moved. He wasn't in the same house he had lived in for 9 years. Once he regained his memory and was snapped out of the sleep induced euphoria he realized Riley wasn't on his chest or in his arms, or in the bedroom at all. The green eyed man sat up and checked the time, "10:03." The comforter was thrown off of him as he left for the bedroom. "RILEY!"

As soon as the bedroom door opened the smell of bacon hit his nostrils. "Hey baby, are you okay?" A smile overcame his face, she was beautiful. Her hair was in a tiny messy bun sitting on top of her head while she wore one of his tee shirts that cut off inches before her knees.

"Yeah, never better." He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sauntered towards the kitchen. "I smell pig bacon."

His arms snaked around her waist as her back pressed against his chest. "Yes you do." Lucas nuzzled his face into her neck and kissed lightly. "Mmm… you hungry?"

"Starved."

"Good. Go sit." She craned her neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll make you a plate and some chocolate milk."

"Heaven. Is this what heaven is like?"

The dancer giggled and hastily made a plate and his chocolate milk before her child of a fiancée freaked out. They ate in silence together but the passing glances she was getting from the officer didn't go unnoticed. "I'm fine." She whispered, as if she felt guilty about it. The emerald eyed man nodded in affirmation that he heard her, though he didn't fully believe her and took another bite of his breakfast. "Are you still mad at me?"

He set down his fork and scratched his bare muscular chest that she couldn't help but look at. "No I'm not. I'm not mad at you." Her tense shoulders dropped and he welcomed the change in her body language. "I'm worried about you now, but no I'm not mad. Just promise me if you feel like you're struggling with this you'll tell me."

Riley agreed with a genuine smile and almost as if she couldn't help herself she rose from the chair and snaked her arms around his neck. "I just don't want you mad at me." Her toes lifted off the ground and her legs wrapped around his waist.

"I don't want you to feel guilty."

Riley tried to inch closer and as soon as their chests touched she realized she couldn't get closer, his strong arms held her tight, almost as tight as she was holding on. "I've prayed and asked for forgiveness a thousand times over since I woke up. I know that doesn't make up for what I did but the first step in forgiving myself is to make sure the 2 men in my life forgive me first."

He furrowed his brows, "Look I know we joke around about your other boyfriends but—"

She popped his arm and kissed his neck. "You and God you dope. I guess it just hasn't hit me what I've done yet. I'm just waiting for it."

"Well," He whispered and ran his fingers through her hair. "Don't look for the remorse, regret or guilt. Look towards the exact opposite end of the spectrum. We get married tomorrow."

"Happiness, love and life."

After breakfast the brunette did the dishes while Lucas just stared at her, watching her every move like he'd never get a chance to watch her again. Though she knew it was the incident from last night that made him feel possessive, it didn't make it any less enjoyable. "I want to do something." She whispered and meandered towards her purse by the front door. "Can you open your gun safe?"

Without hesitation the green eyed man nodded and followed her into the bedroom to enter the combination. "What for?"

Riley took out the clip and emptied the chamber on the bed. "I'm putting this away." A smile overcame both of their faces. "I'll carry pepper spray now that someone isn't specifically targeting me." Her delicate fingers held a not so delicate weapon and placed the glock in his gun safe along with their shotguns and a few of their other guns. "It'll be nice to let it go."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

Per Riley and Lucas' instructions the events of last night were kept a secret from their family aside from Josh. Not even Maya knew and they wanted to keep it that way till they got back from their honey moon. "I've known Riley for 20 years. 20 years I've had the privilege of knowing someone as selfless and sweet and amazing as Riley. During our senior year of high school she met Lucas, they were lab partners and quite frankly I thought he was going to be a little punk." There were snickers from the small crowd and a scoff from Lucas. "But he wasn't. He was the complete opposite in fact and my best friend developed feelings for him that never went beyond a crush." Lucas gripped her hand tighter and kissed her temple thinking how foolish he was all those years ago. "I remember the night they were reunited, our 10 year high school reunion. I kept making fun of her because she was clearly nervous, hoping he'd be there and hoping he'd notice her. And he did, I remember Lucas' jaw dropping and his eyes following her even though he was unavailable. For 10 years Riley had this crush, which turned into friendship that developed into love. A dream story really. For 10 years Riley had feelings for this guy whether she wanted to admit it or not and no matter how crazy I thought she was, here we are. Riley you are my best friend, my sister and my life, no offense Josh." Another bit of laughter exposed itself. "I'm so incredibly happy that you found the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, 10 years ago. I'm even happier that it's with a man as amazing as Lucas who will love and protect you until he can't get out of his rocking chair. I love you peaches."

Riley rose off the chair and embraced her best friend into a hug. "I love you too." The rehearsal dinner was running smoothly, the wedding rehearsal was difficult trying to get control of everyone but all in all that went smooth as well. They had finished giving their speeches now that dinner was over and in a few moments they'd be going their separate ways for the bachelor and bachelorette party.

The brunette pulled away and switched spots with Lucas. "I'm glad I'm not a little punk anymore." He joked and took Riley's hand.

"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE SAY GOODBYE TO THE BRIDE AND GROOM! And you two say good bye to each other."

After a million and one goodbye's the restaurant was clear besides the ones staying for the bachelor and bachelorette party. "Come here. We'll be right back y'all stay in here." Lucas ordered before tugging her outside.

"WHY ARE THERE 2 LIMOS?!"

He chuckled, "one for you and the girls and one for me and the guys. Now come here." The officer drug her across the parking lot and yanked her into one of the limos. "I love you so damn much." He whispered after shutting the door. His lips collided with hers and she opened her legs for him to lay on top of her. His hand ran up her thigh and she moaned at the sudden contact. "I'm going to miss you." Lucas whispered before nibbling at her neck. Riley managed a 'me too' before he kissed her again. Their lips continually moving in sync with one another and his grip on her hips tightened. The limo door flew open and Josh was standing there with his arms crossed. "WHAT THE HELL JOSH!"

"GET OUT!" He shouted, he'd had a little too much to drink. That may be why his speech blew. Lucas slammed the door closed again and locked it.

"I should go." She whispered and adjusted her dress. "What was that for?"

The green eyed man cupped her face and pecked her lips. "You remember that whenever you go out tonight. Don't go running off with some random man. You'll be Mrs. Lucas Friar in less than 24 hours."

The brunette bit her lip and agreed. "You too Mr. Friar. I love you, with everything I have."

"I love you too."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"WOOOOO!" Riley and Maya were hanging out of the sunroof and laughing like giddy school girls. Her tiara was about to fly off but she held onto it tightly. They had been to a total of 3 bars and Riley quit drinking after the first one, she didn't want to be hung over on her wedding day, but that didn't stop her from acting like a child. They had opened up the risqué gifts of the night and her face had never been redder. She looked like a tomato when she pulled out a book of coupons specifically for sex.

The brunette fell back into the limo and poured herself a glass of orange juice and told the girls it was a mimosa. There weren't many women but she didn't mind, they were all close and got along. Isadora, Vanessa, Maya and herself. Isadora preferred to go by Smackle and was married to one of their old friends Farkle Minkus who was currently out of town but would be back in time for the wedding. Vanessa was 'single and ready to mingle', meaning she was desperately trying to find a suitable man. "What time is it?!" Vanessa shouted. Not even an hour ago they argued about the fact Riley has only ever been with Lucas, and the only argument Vanessa could come up with was 'bull shit'.

Riley giggled and checked the time. "3 o'clock. HOLY CRAP! SIR PLEASE TAKE US TO THE HOTEL!"

"Yes ma'am."

"NO! We can't go back." Maya whined and rested her head against her shoulder, "It's your bachelorette party."

The brown eyed girl shoved her off and laughed. "I know and we've been out for 6 hours. I have to get home and get some beauty sleep."

"IT'S YOUR WEDDING DAY!" Smackle yelled and held up her glass of champagne.

The butterflies erupted in her stomach at the idea of marrying Lucas in 16 hours. She couldn't contain her excitement and climbed out of the sunroof. "I'M GETTING MARRIED TO LUCAS FRIAR! WOOOOO!"

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"NO strip clubs Zay!" Lucas didn't want to give Riley any reason to be pissed off, and he could handle his high school friend being pissed off. There were about 5 men from the force, Josh and Zay in the limo heading back to a hotel after they agreed that they all got hammered and had to sleep it off.

"YOU ARE NO FUN!" Zay slurred and fell back into the seat.

Josh chuckled lightly and held up a beer, "Men." They rose their glasses, "To Lucas Friar. My best friend. Like a brother. And the luckiest damn man on this planet aside from me for getting to marry my niece."

"CHEERS!" They shouted in unison.

Zay and one of his friends from work crawled out of the sun roof and were screaming. "Drunk SOB's." Lucas whispered and thought of Riley. He wondered what she was doing or if she was just sleeping. He wanted nothing more than to hold her right now, he'd rather be sleeping with her than out drinking without her.

"I'M GETTING MARRIED TO LUCAS FRIAR!"

"Luke did you hear that?" Zay questioned. The officer furrowed his brows and tugged his friend from out of the window and crawled out.

He saw her arms out in a high v and the wind blowing her hair around. He chuckled lightly and stared at her beauty before shouting, "I GET TO MARRY RILEY MATTHEWS!" Her brown eyes traced over him, he had unbuttoned the top 2 buttons on his dress shirt and rolled up his sleeves to showcase his strong forearms. His hair was in the 'I just rolled out of bed' mess and she wanted nothing more than to run her fingers through it.

Riley flipped her gaze back to his eyes and waved with a giant smile. "I KNOW YOU!" She pointed and threw him a playful wink.

"I KNOW YOU! YOU'RE INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL!"

"SORRY SIR I'M GETTING MARRIED!" She yelled and held up her left hand.

He nodded lightly. "THAT'S THE LUCKIEST MAN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!"

"I THINK SO TOO!" They both laughed and she watched him knowing they were about to take separate exits. "I'M PRETTY LUCKY MYSELF. BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S BAD LUCK TO SEE THE BRIDE ON THE WEDDING DAY!"

"I MAKE MY OWN LUCK. AND THIS WAS THE BEST PART OF MY NIGHT!"

Lucas' limo began to exit, as the distance between them grew she blew him a kiss. "I LOVE YOU LUCAS FRIAR."

"I LOVE YOU TOO BABY GIRL!"

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 **I know there were some issues regarding Riley ending Charlie and I really am sorry for anyone I may have disappointed. I'm very much into the strong female lead, it's the way I was raised and I obviously let that show through my writing. I do appreciate everyone's comments and reviews whether positive or negative so as usual please let me know what you think you wonderful readers you!**


	23. Chapter 23-A Texas Wedding Part 1

"Good morning! Happy Wedding Day!" Maya whispered in her best friend's ear.

That's when a giant ball of energy practically erupted inside of Riley's stomach. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs from the excitement but she settled with a gargantuan grin and a fitful of giggles. "I'm marrying Lucas!" She whisper shouted and threw herself out of bed.

The blonde smiled and pulled out the champagne and orange juice from the fridge. "Get your ass in the shower. It is 10, the hair dresser will be here at 11. Make up will be here at 1, limo will be here at 3 to take us to the venue by 4, pictures start at 4:30, wedding is at 6." The brunette smiled and threw herself out of bed, "Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married." The blue eyed woman sang as the bathroom door shut.

The dancer turned on the water and let the steam of the shower fill the room in a small cloud. After laying out her abundance of hygienic items she stripped her clothes and stepped inside the bathtub. The smile on her face was overwhelming as the future of today's events played out in her mind. The white lace of her wedding dress was calling out to her and the aqua stilettos were begging to be worn. Though things didn't go exactly as originally planned with the wedding, it was going to be a great day. The color scheme had changed, along with song selections and decorations. She couldn't help but laugh really, the wedding she had been planning since she was a little girl and her and Maya played dress up was not at all what was going to happen today.

The wedding she once planned was elegant and inside an overly expensive venue, now it was rustic chic and outside and frankly she wouldn't have it any other way. "RILEY MATTHEWS-FRIAR SOMETHING OR OTHER GET YOUR CUTE BUTT OUT OF THERE! I HAVE MIMOSA'S!" And that was all it took for the brunette to rush her shower.

When she stepped out, wrapped up in a robe there was a small glass waiting on her already, she sipped as she applied a face mask and lotion all over her legs and arms. It was going to be a long day, and she was not about to be drunk, for every glass she had Riley agreed to have a half a bottle of water. She sprayed leave in conditioner in her hair and that's when the bathroom door swung open again. "Peaches I'm so excited for you! I almost can't contain it."

"You're telling me." Riley quipped, "I'm the one getting married! And then there's the whole honeymoon thing and I don't quite know where we are going. I'm trusting Lucas."

"Well that you should," She mumbled against the glass rim of her mimosa, "He is going to be your husband at approximately 6:20. I love what you did with your décor and what not. It's simple and elegant."

The brunette stifled a laugh and rubbed lotion on her hands, missing the ring that Lucas stole from her last week. "I remember how over the top I wanted it. But, when you find the right person it isn't necessarily about the extravagance of the wedding but who the wedding is for. It's me and him, for the rest of our lives and that's what today is about."

They sat in silence with small smiles toying at their lips when the knock on the door pulled them out of their thoughts. "Time to get fancy pants, you ready?!"

The high pitched squeal that was released from her best friend's pink lips alerted her that she was in fact ready.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"GIVE ME YOUR PHONE!" Lucas shouted at the top of his lungs as he lunged for Josh.

"NO!" The green eyed man chased his best friend around his hotel room. "SHE LOVES YOU! SHE ISN'T HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS MAN!"

The officer fell to the floor and ran his fingers through his hair, "That was the worst dream of my life." He whispered and exhaled heavily. "She left me at the altar and sent Maya to tell me." His friend stayed silent to allow him to continue. "Apparently, because she liked me all those years she never really dated and well- even if it was a dream that will be the single most embarrassing moment of my life. I just-I need to be sure Josh, please just call her for me. Or call Maya, call Maya not Riley."

He saw the desperation filling the emerald orbs and Josh sympathized with him, "Okay fine. But after that we're going to get food and then get ready. Okay?"

"Swear it, thank you."

His friend gave him an acknowledging head nod and dialed his fiancées number. _"Hey baby."_

"Hey beautiful girl. How are you?"

 _"Great, we're doing hair right now and getting all beautified for our men."_ Maya joked and a light smile toyed at his lips.

"So, Riley's okay then? She's not having second thoughts?"

Maya scoffed at the ridiculous notion, _"Give the phone to Lucas. I know it's him that put you up to this phone call."_ Josh snickered and passed the phone to his partner as soon as the phone was placed by his ear, he didn't get a chance to speak. _"Listen here Lucas Gabe Friar, Riley hasn't dropped a smile all morning and is squealing like a little girl in a candy store. Cut it out with the insecurities because this girl has been in love with you since senior year of high school, even if she didn't realize it. You are lucky to have her, and she is lucky to have you. You both love each other and she will be there, trust me when I say that."_

Lucas gulped and rubbed his eyes, "I trust you. Tell her I love her please."

 _"PEACHES! LUCAS LOVES YOU!"_ There was some muffled noise in the background and the blonde laughed, _"She says she loves your face and can't wait for the honeymoon sex! MAYA! I DID NOT SAY THAT!"_

Lucas couldn't help but laugh and all of his worries seemed to wash away at the sound of her voice. _"Kidding she says she loves you more."_

"I'll be waiting for her."

 _"Hey baby,"_ His heart seemed to stop at the sound of her melodic voice. _"I'll be the one in white."_

The line went dead and the dimples on his face had never been deeper. "Feel better now man?"

"Yes, God she's perfect. Gather up Zay and let's go get food, keep me distracted." He demanded.

"Why?" Josh questioned while flipping through the TV channels.

A small smile tugged at Lucas' lips as he moved to get dressed. "I'll be looking at the clock every few minutes and I need 6 to get here fast. I NEED to marry your niece."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"Hey momma." Riley pecked her cheek and sat back down in the chair while the make-up artist worked her magic.

Topanga smiled and sat beside her, "Holy cow I love your hair Riley. It's even prettier in person." Mrs. Matthews had been receiving picture updates all morning of her and her second daughter, drinking mimosa's, and getting their hair done.

"Thanks momma, I'm obsessed with it. I'm just glad the extensions look real, I was very worried." Riley closed her eyes as the woman started airbrushing her foundation on.

Maya was getting her hair done as they spoke and it was quiet, "Since neither of you are talking I will take the opportunity to divulge what I brought." Topanga whispered mischievously, "You already have blue shoes, but I brought you this sapphire beaded rosary. It is old, blue and borrowed and from your great, great, grandmother. It is tradition in our family for the woman to tie this around her bouquet, so my beautiful daughter I'm passing it onto you."

Riley had her eyes opened as she gaped at the beautiful rosary in the small white box. "Mom it's gorgeous."

Mrs. Matthews grinned and gripped her hand, "I know we aren't catholic but-"

"Shut your yapper, it's perfect and I will happily wear it. Holy goodness." She joked and made Maya giggle. "I'm starting to get nervous."

And that's when Topanga poured her another mimosa, "Trust me that is more than normal. You're about to marry the man you've liked since high school, not to mention the man you love now. I was practically shaking when I married your father."

"I'm going to slow down, thank you though momma." After going back and forth for 20 minutes on fake eyelashes, Riley finally caved and put the 'little devils' on her lids. Somehow hours had passed and they were riding in the limo with the dress laid gently across their laps. "I still don't understand why Lucas insisted on the limo." The brunette admitted. "I love him, but I could have ridden in, oh I don't know a car." She suggested and it was then she noticed how close they were. The wedding coordinator at the venue had called several times and sent several pictures that all decorations were to her satisfaction. As they got closer and closer, her nerves began to spike. She'd avoided conversation as she pictured her future husband and how he would react to how she looked.

"Peaches, we're here." That snapped Riley out of her daze, "We have 30 minutes to get that dress on you so let's hustle." Though it sounded ridiculous, it was true. The corseted lace mermaid dress was in no way shape or form easy to put on.

A smile overwhelmed her lips, "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

Lucas' father grabbed his son's tuxedo jacket and helped him put it on. "I'm very proud of you son."

"For getting married." He joked and his fingers worked to button the jacket.

Rodney chuckled and faced his son with his hands resting on his son's shoulders. "For marrying Riley. She truly is a wonderful woman and I couldn't have picked one better myself." He glanced at the clock that read 5 and decided there was some time, "Sit down let's have a little conversation." His emerald orbs rolled but obliged his father, he'd already taken pictures and was perfectly fine with letting time pass a little quicker. "You're going to be a great husband and an even better father. Trust me when I say that when I got married I had no idea the responsibility it would bring. I was younger than you, only 20 but I feel as if I should give you some rules." The officer smiled and allowed him to continue, "You will protect her with your life, you will love her unconditionally and you won't leave when you two argue. Marriage only stops, when you stop trying and I will be damned if you stop trying."

"I wouldn't ever want to." His son whispered, "I have messed up the last 5 years with Missy and I don't intend to do it again. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make her half as happy as I."

"And that's what it takes to hold a marriage together."

The door for holding the men flew open and Josh stood there with a grin. "Let me just say Riley looks, there are no words."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"JOSH! Stop it." Riley whispered as she tried to hold back her tears.

Josh however was letting them run freely as he looked at his niece. "I'm sorry you just look so damn beautiful." He enveloped her in a hug. Kind of, he was scolded when he touched her hair and then again when he went to hold her back. Apparently the dress could get dirty. "I'm so happy for you Riles."

"Speaking of, if you spin around you'll see your beautiful fiancée." The brunette mumbled and gave him a sly smile. Josh spun on his heels and there was a hitch in his breath, the aqua chiffon sweetheart dress fell beautifully against her frame.

There was a hitch in Josh's breath and he couldn't resist himself. He stalked towards her and crashed their lips together in one fluid motion. Their lips moved in sync with one another and with reluctance he pulled away. "I can't stay in here. I'll have a heart attack with 2 beautiful woman such as yourselves." She gave him a playful shove out the door.

"I'm glad you went with no vail." Maya stated with an approving look. "Hides your beauty."

The door opened again and her father stood at the entryway. It was obvious he had been crying and as soon as he saw her he burst out into tears again. "Daddy, stop."

"Just give me a minute." Maya passed him a tissue to wipe his face dry with. "My little girl looks impeccable." Her heart warmed and she didn't care about her hair or dress she instantly pulled him into a hug. The blonde snuck out of the room along with Topanga and Laura to give them some privacy. "I can't believe you're getting married." He sniffled and pulled away, "He is one lucky man."

"I'd like to consider myself a lucky woman as well." She stated with a smile and took a sip of water.

"Be good to each other."

"Always." Riley sauntered towards him and straightened his tie. That's when the processional music started to play outside. They glanced at each other, brown eyes to brown and a wave of butterflies erupted through her tummy. "I've finally got a love story."

Cory chuckled and agreed, "I think yours was a tad more exciting than your mothers and mine but you were always a drama queen."

They both laughed together when the wedding coordinator peered her head through, "Come on out. The doors are closed and awaiting your entrance." She nodded and took her father's hand as they sauntered through the venue. Aqua and orange decorations, flowers and candles lined the hallway and she gripped the bouquet even tighter in her hands, letting the rosary rest gently on her knuckles.

The music changed again and Riley gave another glance towards her father. "Secret of life."

"People change people."

Mr. Matthews smiled, "Yes. This is no different. You and Lucas will both change over time, you both will grow exponentially together and don't fight it. You will make each other stronger. I love you."

"I love you daddy." The brunette gave the wedding coordinator the go ahead and the French doors opened, the sun blinded them and she couldn't help but laugh.

"You sure you want this?" Her father quipped.

Riley nodded vehemently, "I want to get married to Lucas Friar."

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 **Thanks for reading. This is just part 1 no worries. Let me know what you think!**


	24. Chapter 24-A Texas Wedding Pt 2 The End

_Would you walk to the edge of the ocean  
Just to fill my jar with sand?  
Just in case I get the notion to let it run through my hand.  
Let it through my hand well  
I don't want the whole world.  
The sun the moon and all their light.  
I just wanna be the only girl  
you love all your life._

 _You love all your life._

Cory gripped Riley's arm impossibly tighter as they made their way down the aisle, and down to Riley's future. Lucas' attention instantly focused on the woman wearing white lace and an occasional pop of teal from her shoes would grace the crowd. The small lanterns that hung at the end of each aisle lit up the walk way as the sun slowly began to set behind the gazebo they'd be getting married in front of. She was terrified to look up, afraid that she'd be frozen in place and unable to move. However, after seconds that seemed like hours she tore her eyes away from their loving friends and family whose faces were adorned with smiles to the man waiting at the end of the aisle. Their eyes instantly connected. Emerald green to deep brown, and she felt as if her world shook. She didn't focus on the teal and orange tulle or her best friend who looked absolutely stunning. Riley didn't focus on the 2 dogs that were lying side by side next to Josh who were itching to run to their owner. In this one earth shattering moment she was focused on the man who would soon be her husband, the man who'd she been hopelessly in love with for 10 years.

There was a large loss of breath on Lucas' part as he shamelessly scanned her body, and one look at his bride made it very apparent that she had a hitch in her breathing pattern as well. Her impossibly perfect face, the dress that hugged her curves and matched her style, the simple and elegant half up and half down hair style that was adorned with a large braid. He had never seen someone as beautiful as she and there was no doubt in his mind that Riley Matthews, soon to be Riley Friar was the most beautiful and perfect creature he'd ever laid eyes on.

There was a warm tear that slowly rolled down his sun kissed cheek and he made no effort to wipe it away. She was here, in front of him and unlike his dream this was going to be the happiest day of his life. She came to a halt a few feet in front of him and he wanted nothing more than to pull her away from her father and into his arms. "Who gives this woman away?"

Cory glanced at his daughter lovingly and then at Lucas protectively almost in warning, since he'd had several of those already he didn't seem to mind anymore. "Her mother and I do." The brunette released a breath she didn't realize she was holding as if she was afraid her father wouldn't let her go. Either way Mr. Matthews placed his daughters delicate hand into the officer's calloused one and he helped her up the small step.

"Riley Matthews you look absolutely stunning." A smile danced across her lips before passing her bouquet off to her best friend. Maya gave her a reassuring head nod and the brunette gripped Lucas' hands tightly in fear he'd let go. Though she knew he'd never, after everything they'd been through he had plenty of time to run, yet he was still here.

Her childhood pastor began speaking about the sanctity of marriage and how they were soon to become one. And though the officer felt terrible about it he was so much more focused on the woman in front of him. The light gloss that her plump lips held, and the bronzer that accented her cheekbones. His focus shifted to her eyes, her long eyelashes closing and opening again, and the smoky browns and grays that covered her lids somehow brightened her eyes. Lucas could blame the make-up for the brightness that twinkled in her eyes but it was him that caused it.

"Lucas." He shook his head out of the daze and turned towards the pastor with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry. Did you-"

Riley and the pastor laughed, "I understand son. She's a beautiful young lady." He nodded in agreement and the brunette gave his hand a squeeze. "Vows. It's time for your vows."

He had his speech tucked into his tux pocket but didn't make a move to get it. "Ever since I saw you at our reunion I've been hooked on you. Every time I'd close my eyes, you were there. Every time I'd have any free time your gorgeous eyes would pop into my mind. I've told you before that my life was at a standstill, nothing happened that didn't occur the day before. Until you came along, you flipped my world upside down and back again and showed me what loving someone really meant. You showed me what it felt like to be loved and for me to love unconditionally. You repaired a man who didn't realize he was broken, but the truth is… I was broken without you." He graciously wiped the fallen tears off of her cheeks. "Riley I promise to be there for you. I promise to love and protect you from this world, I'd die for you. I promise to put you first in everything we do, and try to make you half as happy as you make me. I love you with every fiber of my being, and somehow that grows every day. I promise to be the husband and man that you deserve and I promise to have you by my side through this world and the next."

Riley cleared her throat and tried to dry her face, but Mr. Friar refused to let go of her hands. The pastor nodded when she looked to him for affirmation to begin. "Lucas I've known you for 11 years. When you were assigned to be my lab partner, I of course like the rest of the student body had a huge crush on you." She giggled and the melodic sound danced in his ears. "I thought it was a crush, but a crush doesn't compare every man to you, a crush doesn't last for 10 years and a crush certainly never described the way I felt about you. The moment I walked into the reunion all those feelings came back tenfold and subconsciously I knew that nothing was going to take you away from me." She stopped and caressed his cheek before the tears started to flow freely, "You saved me Lucas. We will have this debate every day for the rest of our lives but you did. You're my hero and I love you more than words can express. There's a ton of words to describe 'love' but none can do them justice when it comes to you and I. We were meant to be together, call it soulmates, call it fate but I can say it is forever because I know that, that is the absolute truth. I promise to be your better half, and share the burdens of life. I promise to love and support you no matter the circumstance and make your life as wonderfully blessed as mine. I promise to be the wife you deserve and more. I love you Lucas."

Lucas stopped mid step knowing he couldn't kiss her yet and moved backwards with a silly grin on his face. "The rings." They both turned around and grabbed the rings awaiting them from their matron of honor and best man. "Riley Matthews do you take Lucas Friar to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

She smiled, exposing all of her pearly whites and slowly slid the ring on his finger. "I do."

"Lucas Friar do you take Riley Matthews to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"Of course I do." He slid the newly designed ring on her finger and he could feel her bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.

"By the power vested in me by the state of Texas I now pronounce you husband and wife. Lucas you may kiss the br-"His lips crashed against hers in a moment of pure need before the pastor could finish. Which was something he would have to get used to. Lucas would always need Riley, and he was never afraid to admit that. She threw her arms around his neck as he slowly dipped her towards the ground. When he finally pulled away he showered her with light butterfly kisses all over her face.

"I love you so much Riley." He whispered after she stopped giggling.

"I love you too, husband."

After Lucas and Riley took hundreds of pictures for the photographer, it was time for them to have their first dance and to be officially announced as, "MR. & MRS. LUCAS FRIAR!" Their friends and family smiled and applauded as they made their way to the dance floor that was installed outside.

The slow music began to echo around them as it burst through the speakers. They stared at each other lovingly as they moved across the wood and he gripped her impossibly tighter.

 _I'd given up on love  
I'd given up on me  
Everything for you was never as it seemed  
I was running out of reasons  
I was running out of time  
I thought I'd stopped believing  
Then you showed me the light_

 _You found me in the darkest night  
You're my angel  
You saved my life  
I can't believe we're standing here  
What's mine is yours, and yours is mine  
I love you till the end of time  
I wanna spend forever with you  
I do  
I do  
I do_

 _I can see us  
Growing old and grey  
Standing beside you  
When we walk through heaven's gates  
Cause soulmates live forever  
From one life to the next  
We'll always be together  
I promise you this_

"I can't believe we're here." He whispered against her ear.

The brunette nodded in agreement, "Who would've thought that after 10 years of being in love with you that we'd be getting married."

He smiled and pecked her soft lips, "Thank you for loving me. Thank you for opening my eyes."

"Over and over again." She said through a smile. They rested their heads against one another as they danced across the floor in their own little moment. They didn't care about all the eyes or the flashes from cameras, all they cared about was them.

 _They always say "you'll know when you know"  
I didn't know it could feel like this  
With every touch, with every kiss_

 _You found me in the darkest night  
You're my angel  
You saved my life  
I can't believe we're standing here_

The song slowly came to a close and after he twirled her twice he pulled her back into his chest and gently kissed her. "Mrs. Friar. I love that." He stated.

"I do recall you saying you'd propose since you liked the sound of that."

He grinned mischievously, "I bet you didn't think it'd be that night."

"Definitely not. You're always full of surprises." They sauntered to their table for two that had 'Mr. & Mrs.' Written on the back of them in chalk and began to eat. Occasionally they'd get stopped so they could be showered in congratulations and 'lovely couples' and when Josh along with Maya gave their speeches in regards to their friends.

Of course Maya and Josh talked about their so called 'obsession' with one another causing laughter to erupt from everyone. After the cake had been smashed in their faces, not caring if they got it on their clothes, it was time for the father daughter dance. "Oh Lord." The brunette mumbled after it was announced from the wedding coordinator.

"He'll be okay my wife. I will be a crying mess like him when our daughter gets married." He quipped and escorted her to her father. It was true Cory had noticeably been crying and she couldn't help but give him a hug.

"Stop that daddy."

"I'm sorry. You're just so beautiful, and you're married, soon you'll have kids and I'm just-"

The dancer cut him off and escorted him to the floor. "I love you daddy. I'll always be your little girl, no matter what happens."

 _Look at the two of you dancing that way  
Lost in the moment and each other's face  
So much in love you're alone in this place  
Like there's nobody else in the world  
I was enough for her not long ago  
I was her number one  
She told me so  
And she still means the world to me  
Just so you know  
So be careful when you hold my girl  
Time changes everything  
Life must go on  
And I'm not gonna stand in your way_

"You had to choose this song, huh?" Mr. Matthews joked.

 _But I loved her first and I held her first  
And a place in my heart will always be hers  
From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
And I prayed that she'd find you someday  
But it's still hard to give her away  
I loved her first_

"You know I couldn't have picked a better man for you sweetheart." They both turned to glance at Lucas who couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from her. Love, adoration, happiness and so many more emotions danced in his eyes and it was hard to miss. "But I loved you first. You remember that."

"I will." He kissed her forehead and spun her around.

 _How could that beautiful woman with you  
Be the same freckle-faced kid that I knew  
The one that I read all those fairy tales to?  
And tucked into bed all those nights?  
And I knew the first time I saw you with her  
It was only a matter of time_

 _But I loved her first and I held her first  
And a place in my heart will always be hers  
From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
And I prayed that she'd find you someday  
But it's still hard to give her away  
I loved her first_

 _From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
Someday you might know what I'm going through  
When a miracle smiles up at you  
I loved her first_

The song came to an end and it was then she realized she had been silently crying. "It's the song." She reassured herself and gave her dad a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too pumpkin." They stood in the middle of the dance floor while tears silently flew down their cheeks.

His mind flooded with memories of Riley growing up and accomplishing many things. He had always been there for her, and though he knew this wasn't the end of the world and he still would be there for her, Cory knew that he wasn't the man she'd go to first. "Sir, do you mind if I steal her away?" Lucas questioned.

His grip on her tightened as tears fell onto the brunette's shoulder. "I'll be okay now daddy, you can let go." He let her go and watched them walk away back to their table.

Mr. Matthews felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was his wife. "She's okay love. She's better than okay, she's happy."

He watched his daughters smile light up the room as her gaze flickered to her new husband. "She is, isn't she?"

"Very." Topanga reassured and looked at her husband lovingly. "Almost as happy as me."

Lucas fed her a piece of cake and kissed her cheek, "I must have done something right." The green eyed man whispered, "To be married to you. For you to love me. I don't deserve you."

"We deserve each other. Don't think otherwise."

Lucas knocked on the door to the room where she was changing in, and gathering up her stuff before they left for the airport. "Hey sweetheart. You ready?" The brunette had changed out of her wedding dress and carefully hung it up in her plastic bag, before putting on her spaghetti strap white dress that cut off 2 inches above her knees, and left her teal heels on. "You look absolutely beautiful. That's nothing new though."

He kneeled down and grabbed her bag. "I'm ready." She replied quietly. "Is everyone out front?"

"Waiting to bid us goodbye." He took her hand in his and they slowly sauntered to the front. You could see the sparklers through the window and hear their friends and family yell in excitement. "Our parents are at the end."

The brunette squeezed his hand and they opened the double doors to the gravel outside. They laughed as they walked through the arch made of sparklers. It lit up the sky and made for wonderful pictures, and once they caught a glimpse of their parents they knew they were almost to the limo he had rented. Laura and Rodney pulled their new daughter into a hug. "We love you Riley. We're so happy that you are the woman he ended up with."

"He's an amazing man Mr. & Mrs. Friar. I am so lucky."

"Be good to him."

"Always."

Lucas gave Mrs. Matthews a hug and held out a hand for Mr. Matthews. Cory took one glance and pulled him into a hug instead, "Be safe. Take care of her."

"Of course I will. Thank you for your blessing Mr. Matthews."

Cory gave him a pat on the shoulder in acknowledgment and pulled his daughter into an overwhelming hug. "Be safe. Please call or text me once you get to where you're going."

"I will daddy. Thank you for everything." The brunette pulled away and hugged her mom, "I love you both so much. I'll see you in a week." She squealed and grabbed Lucas' awaiting hand. He opened the limo door and ushered her inside. They slowly pulled away and Riley couldn't help herself when she turned around to look out the window. Mrs. Friar and Cory were the only two standing outside as they rounded the corner, watching the limousine drive away.

Lucas took her hand and successfully diverted her attention back to him, "They'll be okay sweetheart."

"I know. It's just-"

"A big step." He replied and pecked her lips softly, "I know my love."

A small grin toyed at her lips before asking, "So are you going to tell me where we're going now?"

He grinned playfully, a mischievous gleam in his eye, "Oh have I not told you already?" She shoved him teasingly and was about to beg before he took out 2 plane tickets from his wallet. "Are you okay with sleeping on a plane?"

"As long as you're my pillow I see nothing wrong with that." She quipped, "Why?"

"Because we have a long flight… to Paris." Riley's mouth fell open as she pulled him into an immediate hug.

"OH MY GOD!" She squealed and started bouncing in her seat.

"I remember you telling me in high school you wanted to go to Paris." Her lips pressed against his, placing small chaste kisses over and over again till he smiled. "I will spend the rest of my life giving you everything and anything you want."

"Spoil me why don't you." She joked and sat in his lap.

"I will. And you'll love it." It didn't take them long to reach the airport from their wedding venue. The driver removed all of their bags from the trunk and with their luggage in one hand, their spouses hand was in the other. "You ready Mr. Friar?"

He leaned down and kissed her. "With you, I'm ready for anything."

The End.

I hope you enjoyed this book.

I am not great at sequels in the slightest, that's why I hardly ever do them.

Either way I hope you liked it.

Love you lovelies!


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